ABSTRACT
It does not often happen that Japanese and Jews are considered together. Hardly any book on Japanese history mentions the Jews, and scarcely any study on Jewish history mentions Japan. Nevertheless, since the end of the nineteenth century, some non-academic Western observers, Japanese Christians and Jewish visionaries, have been speculating about the so-called common origin of the Jews and the Japanese. Although none of the exponents of that theory were versed in either the languages or the cultures of both the Jews and the Japanese, this disadvantage did not hamper them from indulging in the wildest speculations. 1
