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Orthodox Church in Japan
The Orthodox Church in Japan or Orthodox Church of Japan (Japanese: 日本ハリストス正教会, romanized: Nihon Harisutosu Seikyōkai, OCJ), also known as the Japanese Orthodox Church (Russian: Японская православная церковь, romanized: Yaponskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov') is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church within the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. ハリストス (Harisutosu) is a transcription from the Russian word for "Christ," Христос (Khristos).
The first purpose-built Orthodox Christian church to open in Japan was the wooden Russian Consulate chapel of the Resurrection of Christ, in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, consecrated in October 1860.
In July 1861, the young Russian Hieromonk Nikolay (Kassatkin) (subsequently canonized and known as Nicholas of Japan), arrived in Hakodate to serve at the consulate as a priest. He became the first to learn the local language and customs sufficiently to spread Orthodox Christianity amongst the local populace. Though the shōgun's government at the time prohibited Japanese from converting to Christianity, some locals who frequented the chapel did convert in 1864. One of Kassatkin's first converts was a Samurai, named Sawabe( later, the first native Japanese Orthodox priest). These early converts acted as missionaries amongst their own families and community. While they were Kassatkin's first converts in Japan, they were not the first Japanese to become Orthodox Christians: some Japanese who had settled in Russia had converted to Orthodox Christianity earlier. On Kassatkin's initiative, the Russian Imperial government established the Russian Spiritual Mission to Japan in 1870. Kassatkin's early approach to spreading Orthodox Christianity throughout Japan involved a degree of indigenization. Kassatkin searched for the points of religious union between Orthodox Christianity and Buddhism and Shinto. It was envisioned by Kassatkin that the Orthodox Church would be the state religion of Japan, an institution to serve the state and to protect Japanese culture from Western influence.
Kassatkin moved to Tokyo in 1872; he remained in Japan for most of the time until his death in 1912, even during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. He was consecrated bishop in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg in the Russian Empire in March 1880 (initially with the title of auxiliary bishop of Reval; he became Archbishop of Tokyo and Japan from March 1906). Kassatkin travelled across Russia to collect funds for the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral in Tokyo, which was inaugurated in Kanda district in 1891 and went on to be known after him as Nikorai-do. Nikolay Kassatkin made Japanese translations of the New Testament and of some liturgical books (Lenten Triodion, Pentecostarion, Feast Services, Book of Psalms, Irmologion).
By the end of 1890, as reported by Kassatkin, the Orthodox Church in Japan (the Russian Spiritual Mission to Japan) had 18,625 baptized faithful.
The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) created a politically difficult situation for the Orthodox Church in Japan. Although Kassatkin remained in Japan, he withdrew from public prayer as Orthodox liturgy required that prayers include blessings for the Japanese armed forces who at the time, were at war with Russia. Throughout the war, the Orthodox Church attended to the spiritual needs of 73,000 Russian POWs held prisoner by Japan. The POWs showed their gratitude by building a number of chapels for the Orthodox Church. Throughout this period, the church grew and by 1912, the Orthodox Church in Japan had some 33,017 members, organized into 266 congregations.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, communications with and support from the Church in Russia (in the USSR from 1922) diminished greatly. The Japanese government had new suspicions about the Japanese Orthodox Church; in particular fearing that the Soviets used it as a cover for espionage. The second bishop of Japan (from 1912), Sergius (Tikhomirov), was one of a handful of Russian émigré bishops who remained loyal to the USSR-based Moscow Patriarchate (rather than supporting the Yugoslavia-based ROCOR). From the late 1920s communion with the Moscow Patriarchate automatically implied loyalty to the government of the USSR - the Japanese government according treated Metropolitan Sergius with suspicion, and he was forced to resign his position in September 1940.
The Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 did serious damage to the Japanese Orthodox Church. The headquarters, Nikorai-do, was destroyed and burnt, including its library with many valuable documents. Nikorai-do was rebuilt in 1929 thanks to contributions gathered from the faithful, whom metropolitan Sergius visited nationwide.
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Orthodox Church in Japan
The Orthodox Church in Japan or Orthodox Church of Japan (Japanese: 日本ハリストス正教会, romanized: Nihon Harisutosu Seikyōkai, OCJ), also known as the Japanese Orthodox Church (Russian: Японская православная церковь, romanized: Yaponskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov') is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox church within the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. ハリストス (Harisutosu) is a transcription from the Russian word for "Christ," Христос (Khristos).
The first purpose-built Orthodox Christian church to open in Japan was the wooden Russian Consulate chapel of the Resurrection of Christ, in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, consecrated in October 1860.
In July 1861, the young Russian Hieromonk Nikolay (Kassatkin) (subsequently canonized and known as Nicholas of Japan), arrived in Hakodate to serve at the consulate as a priest. He became the first to learn the local language and customs sufficiently to spread Orthodox Christianity amongst the local populace. Though the shōgun's government at the time prohibited Japanese from converting to Christianity, some locals who frequented the chapel did convert in 1864. One of Kassatkin's first converts was a Samurai, named Sawabe( later, the first native Japanese Orthodox priest). These early converts acted as missionaries amongst their own families and community. While they were Kassatkin's first converts in Japan, they were not the first Japanese to become Orthodox Christians: some Japanese who had settled in Russia had converted to Orthodox Christianity earlier. On Kassatkin's initiative, the Russian Imperial government established the Russian Spiritual Mission to Japan in 1870. Kassatkin's early approach to spreading Orthodox Christianity throughout Japan involved a degree of indigenization. Kassatkin searched for the points of religious union between Orthodox Christianity and Buddhism and Shinto. It was envisioned by Kassatkin that the Orthodox Church would be the state religion of Japan, an institution to serve the state and to protect Japanese culture from Western influence.
Kassatkin moved to Tokyo in 1872; he remained in Japan for most of the time until his death in 1912, even during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. He was consecrated bishop in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg in the Russian Empire in March 1880 (initially with the title of auxiliary bishop of Reval; he became Archbishop of Tokyo and Japan from March 1906). Kassatkin travelled across Russia to collect funds for the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral in Tokyo, which was inaugurated in Kanda district in 1891 and went on to be known after him as Nikorai-do. Nikolay Kassatkin made Japanese translations of the New Testament and of some liturgical books (Lenten Triodion, Pentecostarion, Feast Services, Book of Psalms, Irmologion).
By the end of 1890, as reported by Kassatkin, the Orthodox Church in Japan (the Russian Spiritual Mission to Japan) had 18,625 baptized faithful.
The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) created a politically difficult situation for the Orthodox Church in Japan. Although Kassatkin remained in Japan, he withdrew from public prayer as Orthodox liturgy required that prayers include blessings for the Japanese armed forces who at the time, were at war with Russia. Throughout the war, the Orthodox Church attended to the spiritual needs of 73,000 Russian POWs held prisoner by Japan. The POWs showed their gratitude by building a number of chapels for the Orthodox Church. Throughout this period, the church grew and by 1912, the Orthodox Church in Japan had some 33,017 members, organized into 266 congregations.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, communications with and support from the Church in Russia (in the USSR from 1922) diminished greatly. The Japanese government had new suspicions about the Japanese Orthodox Church; in particular fearing that the Soviets used it as a cover for espionage. The second bishop of Japan (from 1912), Sergius (Tikhomirov), was one of a handful of Russian émigré bishops who remained loyal to the USSR-based Moscow Patriarchate (rather than supporting the Yugoslavia-based ROCOR). From the late 1920s communion with the Moscow Patriarchate automatically implied loyalty to the government of the USSR - the Japanese government according treated Metropolitan Sergius with suspicion, and he was forced to resign his position in September 1940.
The Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 did serious damage to the Japanese Orthodox Church. The headquarters, Nikorai-do, was destroyed and burnt, including its library with many valuable documents. Nikorai-do was rebuilt in 1929 thanks to contributions gathered from the faithful, whom metropolitan Sergius visited nationwide.