From Japan, with love: Japanese Christians donate ambulances to Israel

Israelis have grown used to seeing dedications on ambulances by American Jews, but seeing an ambulance dedicated by Japanese Christians is rare. This is, in fact, the second ambulance donated, and Tabata, the director of Bridges for Peace in Japan, says they hope to finance three more in the next few months.

I’m so excited that now I can see the ambulance that was donated by Japanese Christians,” she told The Jerusalem Report. “I visit a lot of churches all over Japan, and I call for donations and prayers for Israel.”

She said that all 630 churches registered with the organization have been praying for Israel and for Israeli soldiers since October 7. While Christians represent less than one percent of Japan’s population, they fervently support Israel and see Judaism as the root of their faith.

“Israel is important for us Japanese Christians,” Tabata said. “We are receiving a lot of blessing from Jewish people and Israel. Our roots of faith are from the people of Israel. For us, Jewish people are older brothers and sisters. I love the story of Ruth in the Bible, especially her prayer of saying ‘Your God is my God, and your people are my people.’”

She said that thousands of Japanese Christians donated money toward the intensive care ambulance, which cost $150,000. Yonatan Yagodovsky, the director of the Fundraising Department for Magen David Adom (MDA), showed Tabata the equipment in the ambulance and introduced her to Yoram, who will be driving the ambulance in the Tel Aviv area.

Visiting the sites of the October 7 massacre

Before the ambulance dedication, Tabata visited the site of the Nova music festival and Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzim hardest hit on October 7.

“It’s so special for me to be in the land at such a time of pain,” she said. “We can pray from Japan, but it’s very different from actually being together with the people of Israel.”

Yagodovsky told her that Magen David Adom has been playing a crucial role in Israeli society since October 7. At least 35 staff and volunteers from MDA have been killed in the conflict, some while doing their job. For example, MDA paramedic Amit Mann rushed to the clinic at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. She was shot while treating patients.

Another MDA volunteer, Dolev Yehud, was believed to have been taken hostage from his kibbutz, Nir Oz, on October 7. In June, the army declared that he had actually been killed that day and his body taken into Gaza.

MDA has also organized dozens of blood drives around Israel, and Israelis have flocked to donate blood. Even on October 8, Yagodovsky said, Israelis lined up to give blood, and they collected some 3,000 units, about three times their daily average.

“Can you imagine Israelis lining up for anything?” he joked. “But they did. We had long lines of Israelis wanting to donate blood.”

Having recently returned from Japan, I can confirm that many Japanese know very little about Israel or even about the war with Hamas since October 7. Tabata says that her trip to Israel – and meeting survivors of the October 7 massacre – will help her educate Japanese Christians, which will lead to more connections with Israel.■