Talk:Antisemitism in Japan

Topic

Wow - Is this topic really befitting of a whole article? I guess if we are going to leave no stone unturned in the search for anti-Semitism, then it has to be here. Most such articles are very useful and provoke a "Wow - I had no idea that happened" type of response from me. Not this one which provokes more of a "Wow - they are really digging deep here to find some examples" type of response. Why not add some "In September 2005, a man was overheard on the streets of Kyoto saying disparaging things about an Israeli businessman" type stuff to really hammer home the point.Arlesd (talk) 18:40, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Arlesd--say something in a stupid manner and you just might be thought of a stupid. You had every opportunity with the skills set to type and edit to have included your statement in the text and avoid making a point in a stupid manner. People have been killed for being Jewish or being thought of as accepting of Jews or those that were not offended by Jews. anti-Semitism is not a subject that is well made into comedic matter except by a skillful person.66.74.176.59 (talk) 05:14, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

See also links

these see also links, as well as the Israel-stub, are inappropriate here, and hidden comments saying "100% Anti-Israel and 100% Pro-Palestine, Pro-Antiseimites" are wholly inappropriate. Rd232 ^talk 11:25, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

That's telling 'em. Until the next time. Whatever.--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 15:21, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

There are strong antisemitism and pro-Islamism in Japanese intellectuals, bureaucrats, mass media. --Granevich (talk) 19:00, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

WP:RS and WP:V. And a link to Israel issues is not automatically justified. Rd232 ^talk 19:02, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

RfC

BAn RfC: Which descriptor, if any, can be added in front of Southern Poverty Law Center when referenced in other articles? has been posted at the Southern Poverty Law Center talk page. Your participation is welcomed. – MrX 16:23, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Jacob Satan in The Devil Is a Part-Timer

In 2011 Japanese writer Satoshi Wagahara started a series of light novels for teenagers called The Devil Is a Part-Timer.

The central character of that series is the Devil himself, who Wagahara supposes has as its "real" name Jacob Satan (and a Japanese avatar working at McDonald called Maou Sadao). That the Devil has a first name and a last name seems to be Wagahara's invention of course.

Now, of all the first names that Wagahara could find for the Devil to wear, the choice of Jacob seems suspicious: Jacob is a typically Jewish name and that of the eponymous patriarch of the Jewish people. Note Jacob's other name is Israel. Jacob is used as synonymous to Israel as, e.g., in Ma Tovu: "How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!". Now just try to imagine for a second what the reaction would have been if Wagahara had named his Devil say Muhammad Satan or Ali Satan for example.

I'll let other more knowledgeable people determine if this qualifies as an expression of Japanese antisemitism.

I just wanted to point out this fact on the talk page to the article, so that others can comment on it.

Thank you for your kind attention,

Contact Basemetal here 11:53, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm inclined to say that use of the name Jacob does not in itself qualify as anti-Semitic. If it were combined with other evidence from the text that would identify the protagonist as a representative of the Jews, it might merit mention. Cmacauley (talk) 14:23, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Sorry for responding so late. I must say I do not agree. Your criteria are much too strict. Imagine that he had called his Satan "Muhammad". Certainly we would not be waiting to see if that "were combined with other evidence from the text that would identify the protagonist as a representative of Muslims". The mere fact that the Devil was given a typically Muslim name would immediately be considered as anti-Muslim. Anyway the issue is more for me a substantive one (finding out whether this is or isn't an example of antisemitism) than the superficial one (whether it will or will not be mentioned in a Wikipedia article) which you seemed to believe this was what it was about. Note that above I say nothing about modifying the WP article. I was concentrating on collecting information and opinions regarding what the facts were. Contact Basemetal here 03:22, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

You assume that "Jacob" is an intrinsically Jewish name, but it is not (unlike Muhammad, which is most definitely associated with Islam). Jacob was also a Muslim prophet, a Mormon prophet, an Orthodox Serbian saint, and is featured in several other religions. Just because the Devil is named Jacob does not make him Jewish. Cmacauley (talk) 17:39, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

"Jacob" is a Hebrew name by origin and has a special place in Jewish psyche as it is that of the founder of their nation. You are correct that both the Biblical patriarch and his name (or some version thereof: Muslims speak of Ya'qub not Jacob; and I certainly would agree that had Wagahara called his Devil "Ya'qub" there certainly would also be something to explain) whether applied to the patriarch or to some other character, are present in other religions. So it all comes down to a closer examination of Satoshi Wagahara's background, has he said something about Mormons or Jews or Muslims or the Orthodox religion? I have no information about Wagahara's background which is why I asked this question here. But one thing is pretty certain: the choice of "Jacob" is significant. What Wagahara meant by the choice of this name is not yet clear me. But it's not like if he had called his Devil "Joe" or "Bob". Contact Basemetal here 09:46, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:3D Test of Antisemitism which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 10:31, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Perceptions

"With only a small and relatively obscure Jewish population, Japan had no traditional antisemitism until nationalist ideology and propaganda influenced a small number of Japanese in the years preceding World War II.[Note 1] During the war, Japan's ally Nazi Germany encouraged Japan to adopt antisemitic policies. In the post-war period, extremist groups and ideologues have promoted conspiracy theories, but antisemitism has not become a widespread phenomenon in Japan."

What are the problems? Anti-Semitism existed before the Nazi's and WWII. The opportunity of exposure of Japan to anti-Semitism predates these two incidents. Japan probably has its own types of prejudice which may or may not be based on ethnicity or other not so easily changed characteristics. Japan's potential exposure to anti-Semitism dates from whenever there was an exchange of ideas from the western world to Japan. Japan did not have to wait for the Nazi's or WWII to become aware of anti-Semitism and it's possible influence on the people. The popularity of certain ideas by people in Japan can be viewed as the ability of the Japanese to accept fallacies that existed outside the country before Nazism and WWII. If Japan has the ability to influence those outside its borders then there exists the opportunity for imposing the views of a few from Japan on the many outside where Japan has either direct or indirect contact.66.74.176.59 (talk) 05:37, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

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the "Connection with anti-Korean sentiment" section is obvious violation of WP:NPOV and WP:UNDUE

The editor who wrote it, @Mureungdowon describes themselves as a korean nationalist on their userpage and seems to be trying to subvert this article to spread their Japan bashing.

Let's look at the sources on the section in question

1. an article from OhMyNews that doesn't reference anti-semitism at all
2. an article from polygon (generally considered unreliable on topics other than video games) that mentions anti-semitism as it relates to attack on titan, a single work.
3. a journal that fails to connect anti-semitism with anti-korean sentiment in any meaningful way
4. another journal that compares the denial of comfort women to holocaust denial, but again fails to offer a link between anti-semitism and anti-korean sentiment
5. a dead link to a japan times article, I assume from the URL had to do with a far-right newspaper in japan running an anti-semetic ad.

I'm sorry, this section is a complete mess.

@Mureungdowon Tdmurlock (talk) 03:03, 3 March 2023 (UTC)

@Tdmurlock Agreed. - Rotary Engine ^talk 03:13, 3 March 2023 (UTC)