The Japanese Professor Who Protected Mir Yeshiva in the Holocaust

In Elul 5719, dozens of students from the renowned Mir yeshiva crowded into the small living room of Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz. The occasion was a special reception in honor of a longtime friend of the yeshiva and of the rosh yeshiva himself: Rabbi Avraham Kotsuji.

The guest, dressed in a suit and flat cap, spoke fluent Hebrew, yet something in his accent hinted at a distant origin. It was hard to imagine that only a year earlier his name had been Setsuzo Kotsuji, a professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Tokyo.

A Scholar’s Early Search

Setsuzo Kotsuji was born into a family of Shinto priests, followers of Japan’s native religion, and was raised with the expectation that he would continue in that tradition. His father hoped he too would become a Shinto priest.

As a young teenager, however, he discovered a Japanese translation of the Bible in a bookstore. He bought the book, and its words stirred him deeply. Soon afterward he began studying Hebrew and Oriental Studies, immersing himself in Jewish literature.

In 1937 he published a book in Japanese on Hebrew grammar. As his academic success grew, he was appointed professor at the University of Tokyo, gaining prestige and connections among Japan’s intellectual and aristocratic circles.

Meeting the Mir Yeshiva

During World War II, the Mir yeshiva found refuge in Shanghai. When Kotsuji heard about the presence of a large group of Jewish scholars in the city, he was eager to meet them and learn about Judaism firsthand.

He developed close relationships with the yeshiva’s students and staff, learning from them and deepening his understanding of Jewish tradition. Using his connections with government officials, including Foreign Minister Matsuoka, he helped secure extensions of residency permits for members of the yeshiva so they would not be expelled from the country.

Standing Against Antisemitism

When Japan joined Germany in the war, antisemitic sentiment began to spread. Kotsuji worked tirelessly to oppose it.

He traveled across the country delivering lectures and wrote a book arguing that antisemitism was false and baseless, a Christian hatred of Jews that had nothing to do with Japan.

Japanese authorities grew suspicious of him and arrested him, subjecting him to harsh interrogations and torture on suspicion of collaborating with the enemy. He ultimately escaped this danger through his personal connections and with the grace of Heaven.

From Setsuzo to Avraham

After surviving these ordeals, Kotsuji took concrete steps toward the Jewish faith that had drawn him for so many years. In time he underwent a halachic conversion and a brit milah.

He became known as Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham Kotsuji, and thus returned as a Jew to the Mir yeshiva community he had once helped save. The reception in the home of Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz brought together the students whose lives he had helped protect only a few years earlier.

Kotsuji later published his life story in a book titled From Tokyo to Jerusalem. He passed away in Cheshvan 5734 and was buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.