Tokyo · Hiroo and Azabu
Jewish Community of Japan
The Jewish Community of Japan (JCJ) is Tokyo's community synagogue, at Hiroo 3-8-4 in Shibuya ward. The community was officially founded in 1953, and since September 2009 a new building designed by the architecture firm of Fumihiko Maki has stood on the same plot. The rabbi is Andrew Scheer. According to the website, the community is open to any Jew of any denomination, and hosts visitors who want to pray on Shabbat and eat a kosher meal.
The building has a synagogue, a kosher kitchen, a mikveh and a library with books in English, Hebrew and Japanese. The kitchen is meat, and the daily supervision is by the community's rabbi. According to the kitchen guidelines (in a version from August 2009), dairy products may not be brought in, and every packaged product needs a hechsher from OU, OK, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel or a Badatz.
Registration for Friday night dinner opens with the form on the website, up to half a year in advance. The form also has a vegetarian dish, and you can order challot through it for pickup on Friday between 16:00 and 18:00. The form asks you to upload a photo ID, such as a passport, for each participant.
Good to know
- The deadline is Wednesday at 14:00. Registering after that time adds ¥1,000 per meal, and cancelling from Thursday onward is charged in full. A cancellation before Thursday is refunded, minus a small fee for credit card payment.
- The mikveh is open to non-members too, by arrangement with the rabbi two days in advance. When the community does not know the people asking, the husband sets up a security check meeting at the office in advance.
- Guests may be asked to show ID at the entrance. If you come with a community member, you are asked to arrive together with them, as the form says.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Jewish Community of Japan.
- HereJewish Community of Japan
- ~3 min
National Azabu Hiroo Garden Hills Shopping
A small branch of the imported-food supermarket, in building H of the Hiroo Garden Hills apartment complex, a few steps from the synagogue. It is not a kosher supermarket, so check the hechsher on every product. No parking.
- ~11 min
Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park More to see
A Minato ward park on land that served as an estate of samurai domains in the Edo period, opened to the public in 1934: a Japanese garden with a pond, a stream and a waterfall on a slope. On 6 November 2026 there is a free lunchtime concert.
- ~12 min
TruffleBAKERY Hiroo Food
A bakery of the TruffleBAKERY chain near Exit 1 of Hiroo Station. According to the chain, this is its third branch, opened in March 2020. Not kosher.
- ~13 min
Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library More to see
The library at the top of the hill in Arisugawa Park. In the cafeteria on floor 5 you may eat food brought from outside, for example a kosher meal you brought with you. There is no age limit for entry.
- ~14 min
National Azabu Supermarket Shopping
An international supermarket in Tokyo that stocks a range of imported products, sometimes including products with a kosher certification.