Jewish Community of Japan

The Jewish Community of Japan is a warm and vibrant congregation. We welcome everyone who wants to join us for services, events or any other activity, regardless of their Jewish affiliation.

We provide for the religious, educational, and social needs of our members. We also provide a place for visitors to Japan who want to participate in Shabbat services and enjoy kosher meals in a congenial atmosphere with fellow Jews. Our center offers a large range of religious, cultural and social activities and events.

We look forward to enrich with Jewish experiences your visit or your stay in Japan.
Jews have been living in Japan since at least the 1860s, perhaps much, much longer. The first settler we know of in modern times arrived in Yokohama in 1861, and synagogues were later established in Nagasaki (1889), Kobe (1937), and finally Tokyo (1953).

The site on which our facility now stands was acquired in late 1952, and was opened on May 3, 1953, with a black tie party attended by Prince and Princess Mikasa. That same property is still the address for our community home, our synagogue, our school, our kitchen, our mikveh, our social space, our library, and our office–in short, all the assets that physically anchor our Jewish life here. We hope you will come and use them with us, temporarily if you are just visiting, as members if you are staying longer.

Our community was formally chartered in 1953. We are open and accommodating to all Jews whatever their place in the spectrum of Jewish views and wherever they may come from.

Forty years ago, the Jewish Community of Japan was described by one of its lay leaders as “…a microcosm of the cosmopolitan world living at peace…” In that spirit, welcome to all who enter our gates! In the words of our rabbis, let us all “Judge every person in a favorable light.” (Avot 1.6). The 1953 structure was torn down in 2008 and in September 2009 a new modern building, designed by Maki and Associates, was inaugurated.