The Fugu Plan

[evangilder]

I just made a trip to the $5 book store with the kids. We do that a few times a year to get some new books and every time I go in there, I find a book or two that spark an interest or something that I have been thinking about or involved in. I picked up a book called Dusty Exile, about the Japanese internment during WWII. After my trip to Manzanar last year, I wish to learn more.

The book that really caught my eye was one on a subject that I had never heard about. It goes to prove you can study a period of time (in this case WWII) and still find out about something you had never heard about before. The Fugu Plan is one of those. This is the story of Jews who went to the east as the Japanese were attempting to set up something like Israel in the far-east. There is a short write up about the Fugu Plan at the website below:
Japan Set Up Jewish Colony in Manchuria - henrymakow.com

I plan on starting this one tonight and will report back.

 

[gumbyk]

Looking around the rest of that website makes me wonder how impartial that book will be, but I look forward to hearing what it was like.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I've never heard of that either, looking forward to what you have to say about it.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I have not heard of this either and am with the other on wanting to hear more.

 

[A4K]

Interesting Eric, a new one on me too....

 

[evangilder]

Looking around the rest of that website makes me wonder how impartial that book will be, but I look forward to hearing what it was like.

It was the only place I could find a write-up on the Fugu plan that wasn't a novella online. The guy that wrote it was a Rabbi in Tokyo (who knew?) who heard bits and pieces about it from his congregants, then started digging more into it, and then found some of the original documentation on it (Kogan papers). Some of the folks he interviewed were either part of the plan or relatives and direct descendants of people involved.

Being a WWII history nut and a Jew, this one was completely new to me. But seeing a book with both Hebrew and Kanji on the front cover, I was like "what the...?"

 

[vikingBerserker]

Eric,

I bought the book last week and could not put it down. WOW - this was an incredible read!

 

[razor1uk]

Many people assume that because Japan was an Axis member that they supported everything to do with the Natzis, but they didn't agree or follow as many of the preceps that some of the European Axis members did.
Unfortunately the good can do bad as well as the bad can do good; hindsighted public sentiments upon history tend to ignore the grey areas...

Judaism was generally ignored by the Japanese proir to and during WW2 although this wasn't always true of some things that happened either due to foriegn inflamation/actions/provocations. Certainly, incomparison to the treatment of Cristians (particularly Catholics/Jesuits) from the Japanese, was not metered out to the same way/level to the the Jews in Japan.

In some ways Shinto and Judaism share some very ancient common connections/ritualistic aspects; Animal/token sacrifice, the forehead box/disc, leather arm strappings, shrine layout, the shrine gates, holy ropes, salt and paper offerings and the prayer shawl patternings.
Of course some the more dogmatic, could say thats such opinions, facts and similarities are heretical to their beleifs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Japan
http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~magi9/isracame.htm
http://jcpa.org/jl/jl425.htm

 

[Shinpachi]

Right. Japanese had/have no reasons to hate Jews but respect them because of their diligence.