Most of the Jewish nation was lost thousands of years ago. No trace of them has ever been discovered. In this startling book, a close examination of Japanese traditions suggests the possibility that the Japanese are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

Japan was a party to the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. However, it ignored repeated German demands to harm the 40,000 Jews who found themselves under Japanese occupation during World War Two. This book attempts to answer why they behaved in a relatively humane fashion towards the Jews.

Why are the Japanese fascinated with the Jews? By showing that the modern attitude is the result of a process of accretion begun 200 years ago, this book describes the development behind Japanese ideas of Jews and how these images are reflected in their modern intellectual life

Although an ally of Nazi Germany during World War II, Japan adamantly refused to accede to German demands to deal harshly with the some 40,000 Jews living under its control. While there was anti-Semitism in Japan since the early 1920s, there was also philo-Semitism and great admiration for Jewish power, influence and achievements. Japan-Israel relations were very strained and tense from 1952 to the early 1990s due to Japan's dependence on Arab oil. But since 1990 the policy of Japan has changed radically and the country is now a close friend of Israel in East Asia. Meron Medzini compares and contrasts Israeli and Japanese society, foreign policy, and above all economic and technological ties. He analyzes the presence of Jews in Japan since the 1860s and the absence of any Jewish influence, power, and involvement in Japanese arts, media, academia, politics, labor unions, and industry.

Before World War I, Japan did not have an antisemitic tradition of its own. Although influences of Western antisemitism reached the country in the late 19th century, it was only during Japan's participation in the Siberian Intervention of 1918-22 that the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" made their way to Japan. The dissemination of this work promoted "conspiracy and scapegoating antisemitism" in the country. In 1920-21, several Japanese translations of the "Protocols" appeared, and the topics of Jewish omnipotence and the "Jewish peril" ("Yudayaka" in Japanese) became widespread in the mass media and in literature. One of the themes discussed was the "Jewish character" of the Bolshevik Revolution. Discusses writings by Eiju Oniwa, Tsuyanoske Higuchi (aka Baiseki Kitagami), Seika Ariga, Minetaro Yamanaka, Tokio Imai, etc., as well as the writings of those who criticized the conception of the "Jewish world conspiracy" and rejected the "Yudayaka" and the veracity of the "Protocols": Sakuzo Yoshino, Tokusaburo Hatta, Kametaro Mitsukawa, Masao Kinoshita, and others. In 1929 a roundtable on the "Jewish problem" was organized by the magazine "Heibon".