Tokyo to Kyoto: Tracing Jewish Footsteps in Japan

Japan is one of the world’s most exciting and fascinating tourist destinations. It’s a place where the bright lights and high end department stores of Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, and the frenetic electronic bustle of Akihabara, sit side by side with ancient mountain temples, a thousand years of Samurai tradition, geishas, and kabuki theatre. 

What many American Jews are amazed to discover is that there is a Jewish heritage in Japan that goes back at least to the 1700s! Visitors exploring Jewish sites in Japan can experience a unique blend of Jewish and Japanese culture that ranges from the quiet Jewish Cemetery in Kobe, located in a serene Japanese hillside garden, to kosher restaurants that serve gourmet Japanese food.

Luxury Jewish tourism in Japan opens the door to a little-known aspect of the Jewish experience in the diaspora, as well as a chance to explore Japan’s wonderful traditional cultures and modern high tech society!

Uncovering Japan’s Historical Jewish Footprints

Jewish travellers and adventurers made their way to Japan in the 1700s, but the country didn’t really open up to foreigners until 1853. The first permanent Jewish settlement was in the port of Yokohama (south of modern Tokyo). The small Yokohama Jewish community built Japan’s first synagogue in 1895.

Another Jewish community was established in the port of Nagasaki. In fairly short order, the Russo-Japanese War and the Great Kanto earthquake resulted in most of the two communities relocating to the port of Kobe near Osaka. Kobe became one of the main Jewish cultural centres in Japan. 

By the 1930s, Kobe was a Jewish melting pot with a community that contained Ashkenazis from Germany and Russia, Baghdadi Jews from the Middle East and a sprinkling of Jews from Central Asia and other far flung locations. Following the Russian Revolution, Jewish refugees crossed Siberia and began to arrive in Japan.

 A second wave of Jewish refugees came to Japan in WWII. The Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara (honoured as Righteous Among the Nations) issued Japanese visas to up to 6,000 refugees, saving them from the Holocaust. Visitors to Japan’s alpine Gifu province can see the Chiune Sugihara Memorial Hall that contains exhibitions detailing Sugihara’s rescue of the Jews. The Port of Humanity Museum in the port of Tsuruga also celebrates the life of Sugihara. 

Kobe Jewish Cemetery

The city of Kobe’s two synagogues were destroyed by air raids during the war, but the Jewish cemetery survives as part of the city’s Foreigners Cemetery. The peaceful hillside cemetery is also a well-tended garden and the Jewish section contains the headstones of Jews from as far away as Syria, The Netherlands, Lithuania and Russia. It’s a strange feeling to wander the cemetery and imagine the lives of so many Jews who fate brought to a peaceful resting place in an ancient Japanese city.

The Yokohama Jewish Community

Yokohama grew from being a small Edo fishing village to a major port when Japan opened to the west in the 1850s. A small Jewish community of merchants and traders was bolstered by the sudden arrival of 5,000 refugees from Russia. One of the most important Jewish sites in Japan is the Hikawa Maru museum ship in Yokohama. The former ocean liner sailed to Canada in 1941 carrying a contingent of Jewish refugees fleeing WW2. The city’s old cemetery also contains some fascinating Jewish headstones that offer a glimpse into the past world of Yokohaman Jews.

Exploring Jewish Heritage from Tokyo to Kyoto

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Two of Japan’s most important cities are the modern capital Tokyo and the historical capital Kyoto. The two are connected by the high speed shinkansen bullet train which takes just over 2 hours to travel over 200 miles. Nobody has a clue how many Jews currently live in Tokyo, but the Jewish Community of Japan (a community center and synagogue) has about 100 families in regular attendance. There are also two Chabad houses, under the supervision of Rabbi Mendi Sudakevich, that welcome American Jewish tourists for Shabbat services and meals. 

Tokyo is one of the world’s great gastronomical cities and has some excellent kosher restaurants and other food options. Beit Chabad’s own Chana’s Place serves kosher meats imported from the US and offers some amazing home cooking, including freshly baked challah for Shabbat.  Kosher Delica is a restaurant and city-wide delivery service that also began under the auspices of Chabad. Delica delivers fresh kosher food, prepared under rabbinical supervision, at reasonable prices. Another popular choice for Jewish foodies is David’s Deli in Mita. Customers can choose from a range of kosher deli foods with Israeli, American and Japanese influences. 

Kyoto is Japan’s most beautiful city. It was spared the WW2 bombing and is home to hundreds of Buddhists temples and Shinto shrines, as well as museums, and other cultural and historical treasures. Kyoto never has a significant Jewish population, but the Chabad welcomes Jewish travelers and tourists and there is also a community initiative through the Beit Shalom (Japan Christian Friends of Israel) that works tirelessly to promote friendship between Japanese and Jewish people. They are delighted to welcome American Jewish tourists to their Shabbat concerts where the Japanese choir sings hauntingly beautiful renditions of Hebrew songs.

Planning Your Jewish Heritage Journey in Japan

The weather in Japan will play a big part in your travel plans. Summer months can be uncomfortably hot and humid and there is also a rainy season. Winters can be cold and the wind blows straight down from Siberia. The north of Japan regularly gets heavy snowfalls. By far the best time to arrange a Jewish heritage tour in Japan is either the spring or autumn. 

The main benefit of the spring is that the warmer sunny weather brings the world-famous sakura or cherry blossom. You may also be able to experience a Passover in Japan. A fall visit to Japan brings equally beautiful weather, and the coloring of the leaves on the trees (think of fall in Vermont). Your visit might also coincide with Rosh Hashannah. 

Japan is a very polite and formal society, but Japanese people are friendly and make allowances for foreigners’ social faux pas. If in doubt, bow your head, smile politely and say either “sumimasen” or “gomennasai” (both mean excuse me). You’ll invariably get a kind response. One thing to bear in mind is that if you have visible tattoos it is better to cover them. Polite Japanese society frowns on tattooing (it has mafia connotations) and you may be excluded from certain places. 

One of the most refreshing things about Japan is that it is a safe society. There is very little street crime or antisocial behavior and people routinely walk around with large sums of money on them (many Japanese prefer cash to credit cards). Jewish tourism in Japan is a real pleasure because anti-Semitism is basically non-existent in Japanese society, and Japan doesn’t tolerate any extremism from its tiny foreign minorities.

A Tailored Tour of Jewish Cultural Centres in Japan 

Japan is a wonderful country that is welcoming to Jewish tourists and has a hidden Jewish heritage that goes back to the 1700s. The best way to experience Jewish Japan – and Japanese culture – is with a customized luxury tour organized by an experienced Jewish travel company. 

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Gil Travel will work with you to create the perfect itinerary for your family or tour group, enabling you to experience a unique Jewish world in a land where the past and present are combined through an appreciation of beauty and tradition.