Apart from a few exotic exceptions, no historical links have existed between the Jews and the peoples of the Far East: between the culture of Moses on one hand, and that of Confucius and Buddha on the other. Today, however, things are changing. The citizens of Israel and the citizens of Asian countries like China, Japan, and Korea are experiencing greater interest in one another and finding that they share many common values.
Such interest is reflected in Israel, for example, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where East Asian studies are perhaps the most "in" of any subject presently taught on campus. Though it is a relatively new addition to the curriculum, two hundred students are now working for degrees in this field, an increase over the initial three dozen just two decades ago. Moreover, many Asian courses attract students from other disciplines, auditors, and others sitting in on occasional lectures. Professor Ben-Ami Shillony's course "Introduction to Japanese History and Civilization," for instance, is attended by some three hundred students, including young men and women from business administration, a field in which knowledge of Japan has practical value.
This fascination is also reflected by the great popularity of the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa, and by the fact that hundreds of young Israelis, immediately after completing years of military service, have devoted several months or even years to backpacking through East Asia.
The Hebrew University is the largest center of Japanese studies between Rome and Hong Kong, and a significant center of Chinese studies. However, there is no parallel center of Israeli (or Jewish) studies in China or Japan. The department of Oriental languages at Beijing University did initiate a course in modern Hebrew some years ago, with an American Jew, Michael Mann, as its first instructor. Its students, most of whom have never met a Jew before, learn the rudiments of Jewish history, modern Hebrew literature, and Judaism.
In Japan, only biblical Hebrew is taught at the university level. Indeed, Prince Mikasa, the emperor's younger brother, speaks Hebrew and is a well-known biblical scholar. He has yet to accept any invitation to visit Israel, however.
Oriental Christianity Forges A Bond With Israel
Strong interest in Hebrew and affection for Israel are to be found among a number of rather small revivalist Christian groups in Japan. They believe that the Japanese are among the ten "lost tribes" of Israel and that the founding of the State of Israel heralds the Second Coming Christ. Their members learn Hebrew, study the Bible, and make frequent pilgrimages to Israel. The largest of these groups is the Makoya (Tabernacle), known also as the Tokyo Biblical Seminary, founded by the late Ikuro Teshima. Teshima's charismatic personality and the group's warm communal atmosphere have attracted some fifty thousand disciples.
Led today by Teshima's widow and son-in-law, the Makoya sends its young people--all of whom adopt Hebrew names--to work on kibbutzim, to study at Israeli universities, and to undertake various public service tasks in Israel. Once a year, to the delight of the local populace, they march through the streets of Jerusalem singing Israeli songs,
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