those communities to move to Kobe. Kobe now hosts the oldest surviving Jewish Community of Japan.

Even though Japan was far from most other Jewish communities when it first opened its gates to foreigners, it is not hard to understand why Jews ended up in Japan as merchants. Since the Diaspora, Jews have been living as a minority in diverse lands. Often, they have been denied the rights to own land, serve in the military, and take part in government. As a result, Jews made trade their main occupation. By trading, many found that they could prosper without necessarily having to settle down in one place. Constant travel trained the Jews in different cultures and languages, and left relatives scattered throughout many towns and countries, giving the Jews anedge in international trade. Thus, their long history of trading expertise made the Jews assets to countries such as Japan which hoped to advance their own economies.

Well before World War II, there was a comparatively large Jewish presence in Kobe. Trade brought both Sephardic Jews from Baghdad, Iraq and Aleppo, Syria, and Ashkenazic Jews from Poland and Russia. In addition, Russian Jews who may have been escaping pogroms also landed in Kobe. One well-known member of the community was Sam Evans (born Ewanoffsky in Odessa). He settled in Kobe in circa 1919. For many years he was a leader of the Jewish community, businessman and philanthropist. He was, in fact, the very first Jew to become a naturalized Japanese citizen. The first synagogue in Kobe was established in