was a Japanese Orientalist, and the son of a

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

priest who descended from a long line of Shinto priests. During the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

he helped Jewish refugees to escape the Nazis, arranging for them to stay first in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

and later in Japanese-occupied

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. He also fought against Nazi-inspired anti-Jewish propaganda. A book about how he helped Jewish refugees was written by Japanese actor Jundai Yamada and published in April 2013 by NHK Shuppan. He

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

in 1959 after converting to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

from Shinto in his youth.Time (magazine)
/ref> In his book "From Tokyo to Jerusalem" he explained that he never was satisfied from his conversion to Christianity. He first encountered

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

while working for the South Manchuria Railroad Company during World War II.

References

1899 births 1973 deaths Japanese Jews Japanese Hebraists Japanese orientalists Japanese former Christians Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Converts to Judaism from Christianity Jewish Japanese history Japanese anti-fascists Jewish anti-fascists People from Kyoto People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust Burials at Har HaMenuchot {{Japan-bio-stub

See also

References