Jews arrived in Japan in the sixteenth century, but did not permanently settle until after 1853.  By 1895 the community, of about 50 families, dedicated Japan’s first synagogue. During this time, 100 Jewish families also settled in Nagasaki. The Beth Israel Synagogue was built there in 1894. After an earthquake, the Jews moved to Kobe with their Torah scroll.

The Kobe community was cosmopolitan with Jews arriving from Russia, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Central and Eastern Europe, and Germany. The Tokyo community only became an important center of Jewish life with the arrival of the American Jewish servicemen in the postwar period.

The majority of Jewish migrants were businessmen, but Albert Mosse, a German Jew, played an important role in the development of the 1889 Meiji constitution. Other Jews, not resident in Japan, were of immense assistance to the country. The American banker and financier, Jacob Schiff, was instrumental in securing loans for Japan during its war with Russia.

The current Jewish population in Japan is around 2,000.