Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun: Japan and the Jews during the Holocaust Era (Lectures from the "Broadcast University" of Israel Army Radio)(Jewish Identities in Post-Modern Society)

Even before Japan joined Nazi Germany in the Axis Alliance, its leaders clarified to the Nazi regime that the attitude of the Japanese government and people to the Jews was totally different than that of the official German position and that it had no intention of taking measures against the Jews that could be seen as racially motivated. During World War II some 40,000 Jews found themselves under Japanese occupation in Manchuria, China and countries of South East Asia. Virtually all of them survived the war, unlike their brethren in Europe. This book traces the evolution of Japan's policy towards the Jews from the beginning of the 20th century, the existence of anti-Semitism in Japan, and why Japan ignored repeated Nazi demands to become involved in the "final solution."

Table of Contents:
Introduction Preface Chapter 1: Early Jewish Settlers in Japan Chapter 2: Jewish Settlers in Japan at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Chapter 3: Japanese Images of the Jews: Myths, Canards and Fears Chapter 4: Nazi Antisemitism and its Influence on Japan in the 1920's and 1930's Chapter 5: Japanese Experts on Jews, Judaism, and Zionism Chapter 6: Japan and the Jews of Manchuria Beginning in 1931 Chapter 7: Passports, Entry Visas, and Transit Visas: Japan's policy toward Jewish Refugees (1935-1941) Chapter 8: The Jews of Shanghai under Japanese Rule Chapter 9: Jews in the Japanese-Occupied Territories during the War Years Chapter 10: A Japanese Righteous Gentile: The Sugihara Case Chapter 11: The Japanese Policy toward the Jews in Japan’s Home Islands Chapter 12: ""The Jewish Question"" in Japanese-German relations, 1936-1945 Chapter 13: The Japanese, the Holocaust of European Jewry, and Israel Selected Bibliography References Index

About the Author :
Meron Medzini was born in Jerusalem and received his Ph.D in East Asia Studies from Harvard University. He began teaching modern Japanese history at the Hebrew University in 1964. Since 1973 he has been an Adjunct Associate Professor of modern Japanese history and Israeli foreign policy at the Hebrew University. Medzini is the author of six books and scores of articles.

Review :
"In this fascinating and highly readable book, Meron Medzini offers a sweeping overview of Japan’s ambivalent attitude towards the Jews living in its empire before and during World War II and the controversial treatment meted out to them." “Japan has been neglected in most literature on the modern history of the Jews. However, Japan was involved in the fate of the Jews at their critical moments. Although Japan was an ally of Nazi Germany during the War, the Japanese gave a refuge for the Jews fleeing from Nazism. This stood in sharp contrast to the case of the “enemy nationals” who were rather inhumanly treated under Japanese occupation. Meron Medzini’s book provides a fascinating scholarly insight into the history of Jewish-Japanese relations, adding a new chapter to the works of Ben-Ami Shillony and Rotem Kowner.” “Anyone wishing to learn about the fate of the Jews in Japan during the years of the Holocaust will gain immensely from reading this eye-opening book. Few people know this generally overlooked history as well as Meron Medzini and can tell its story in as authoritative and engaging a way as he.” “Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun is a masterpiece that goes beyond its title. It analyses the attitude of the government and people of Japan towards persecuted Jews in various historical contexts, including: Japan in modern world history; Japan in Asia; the history of Jewish communities in Asia as well as their relations with Jewish communities elsewhere and the Zionist Movement; and Japan’s attitudes toward Zionism and the State of Israel. The book covers a variety of related themes and is rich in details, analyses, insights, and reasonable inferences and hypotheses based on a multiplicity of sources. Most notable is Medzini’s conclusion that the attitude of the Japanese government and people toward the Jews was ‘by and large fair and even humane.’” "Japan’s attitude to and policies toward Jews from 1933 to 1945 — the years that coincided with the rise and fall of Nazi Germany — is the subject of Meron Medzini’s fine and fascinating work of scholarship, Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun: Japan and the Jews During the Holocaust Period ... Medzini, a Hebrew University historian, is one of the few scholars who has exhaustively delved into this intriguing topic ... Medzini’s wide-ranging book fills the gap quite admirably. He deals with the influx of Jews into Japan from the mid-19th century, the image of Jews in Japanese society, the export of antisemitism to Japan, the treatment meted out to Jews in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, China and Southeast Asia and the policies Japan formulated with respect to Jewish refugees." Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun is a timely book that presents both experts and laymen with an excellent overview of up-to-date research on this topic in a readable and engaging form. [Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun] is a very good addition to Japanese-Jewish historical literature. ... While there are other general books about Jews in Japan, this book’s focus on the WWII years makes it somewhat unique. The book contains an excellent selected bibliography as well as endnotes which will aid students and scholars for further research. Recommended for all academic libraries and libraries that collect in Diaspora or WWII history. The great value of this book is that it brings together Medzini’s own and numerous studies by others in assessing how we might ultimately evaluate the Jewish experience under Japan. The lengthy bibliography in various languages and far-flung presses will give the reader an idea of what the range of diverse work on this topic has been. It would be no exaggeration to say that this is one of the best surveys of the topic that we now have in English—perhaps the best. Indeed, the strength of Medzini’s book lies in the fact that he sees this key issue, namely the survival of Jews on Japanese-controlled territory during the war, not only in the context of Jewish-Japanese relations, but also as an Asian story more broadly. … Meron Medzini’s book must be regarded as a commendable contribution to understanding the complex nature of this important chapter of Jewish-Japanese relations.