The Fugu Plan: The Untold Story of the Japanese & the Jews During World War II

Author(s): Mary Swartz

Judaica

If someone who is rich and powerful comes to you for a favor, you dont persecute him -- you help him. Having such a person indebted to you is a great insurance policy. There was one nation that did treat the Jews as if they were powerful and rich. The Japanese never had much exposure to Jews, and knew very little about them. In 1919 Japan fought alongside the anti-Semitic White Russians against the Communists. At that time the White Russians introduced the Japanese to the book, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". The Japanese studied the book and, according to all accounts, naively believed its propaganda. Their reaction was immediate and forceful -- they formulated a plan to encourage Jewish settlement and investment into Manchuria. People with such wealth and power as the Jews possess, the Japanese determined, are exactly the type of people with whom we want to do business! The Japanese called their plan for Jewish settlement "The Fugu Plan". The fugu is a highly poisonous blowfish. After the toxin-containing organs are painstakingly removed, it is used as a food in Japan, and is considered an exquisite delicacy. If it is not prepared carefully, however, its poison can kill a person. The Japanese saw the Jews as a nation with highly valuable potential, but, as with the fugu, in order to take advantage of that potential, they had to be extremely careful. Otherwise, the Japanese thought, the plan would backfire and the Jews would annihilate Japan with their awesome power. The Japanese were allies of the Nazis, yet they allowed thousands of European refugees -- including the entire Mirrer Yeshivah -- to enter Shanghai and Kobe during World War II. They welcomed these Jews into their country, not because they bore any great love for the Jews, but because they believed that Jews had access to enormous resources and amazingly influential power, which could greatly benefit Japan. If anti-Semites truly believe that Jews rule the world, why dont they all relate to Jews like the Japanese did? The fact that Jews are generally treated as outcasts proves that people do not really believe that Jews are anywhere near as wealthy or powerful as they claim. It proves that anti-Semites do not take their own propaganda seriously.

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Rabbi Marvin Tokayer began his rabbinic career in 1962 as a U.S. Air Force chaplain stationed in southern Japan. In 1968, he returned to serve as rabbi of the one-thousand-member Jewish Community of Japan, a post he held until 1976; he remains Lifetime Honorary Rabbi of the community. He also served on the Federation of Jewish Communities of Southeast Asia and the Far East and as Founding Board Member of the Sino-Judaic Institute. Consummate storyteller Rabbi Tokayer contributed seven articles on rabbinics and the Orient for the Encyclopedia Judaica; authored twenty books in Japanese on Judaica and Japan; and coauthored (with Mary Swartz) The Fugu Plan The Untold Story of the Japanese and the Jews during World War II.

General Fields

  • : 9789652293299
  • : Gefen Publishing House, Limited
  • : gefen
  • : 0.566
  • : 01 April 2004
  • : 230mm X 155mm X 25mm
  • : Israel
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : black & white illustrations, maps
  • : 287
  • : 940.5308924
  • : English
  • : Hardback
  • : Mary Swartz