The Orthodox Church in Nagoya

At Pascha, more than a hundred people from various countries shared the joy of the Holy Resurrection. The joyful cry "Christ is risen" was heard in Japanese, Russian, Romanian, Greek, English, and Georgian etc...

Nagoya is a rather big city whose population is over 2 million, so it is not rare to see people from abroad. It is easy to suppose that a lot of people from Orthodox countries live here. But few expected they could find an Orthodox Church in Japan, nor in Nagoya.

Our Orthodox Church started in Middle East 2000 years ago and was brought to this country in the Far East, as Christ decreed.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ORTHODOX CHURCH IN JAPAN

Orthodox Christianity was brought here in the middle of the 19th century by the young monk, Nikolai Kasatkin. At that time, Japan had just opened to the West and begun diplomatic relations. The United States, France, and Britain settled Consulates in Japan. Russia established its Consulate in Hakodate in Hokkaido. At the same time, the Orthodox Church in Japan started its history as a small church belonging to the Consulate.

Nikolai's heart was moved when he saw a want card in the Seminary recruiting a priest to be in charge of the church in Hakodate. He said in his diary: "During the Liturgy, I asked God to give me Blessings to go to Japan. When I came out, I felt and I believed God Blessed my mission to the far country."

In summer 1860, Nikolai left St. Petersburg for Japan. On the way, he spent winter in Nikolayevsk, a port facing the Okhotsk Sea. God gave him the great chance to meet a man, later to be called St. Innokentii of Alaska. Innokentii gave him precious advice, especially about the importance of translating church texts into Japanese.

Nikolai set foot on Japan the next Spring. In the beginning, he studied Japanese language, culture, history, and the Japanese religions of Buddhism and Shintoism. He was a man of great curiosity and he mastered Japanese very quickly.

There is a famous story of Nikolai and the baptized in Japan. In those days, there were many zealous patriots who tried to sweep away anything and anybody from abroad. One of them was Takuma Sawabe, from Tosa in Shikoku. One day, Sawabe visited Nikolai with sword and said loudly, "Foreign countries watch for a chance to invade Japan, religion is a tool of it." Nikolai answered "By the way, do you know what our religion is? Is it right to blame anything without knowing the object." Sawabe answered. "I see, tell me".

Then Nikolai told him about One God, Creator of the world". .Listening to Nikolai, he seemed serious. At last he said "It is different from what I thought. May I come to learn?" He became the first Japanese Orthodox Christian and priest.

Day by day, year by year, Orthodox Christians increased in Northern Japan. In 1871, Nikolai decided to establish a church in Tokyo, the capital city, in order to expand the missionary activity throughout Japan. Soon he started a Seminary and publishing section. Not only the Bible but also prayer books, theological books, spiritual books, and various other kinds of books were published in Japanese. Graduates from the Seminary spread across all Japan and preached the Gospels.

In 1884, the number of Orthodox Christians was greater than 10,000 and a Cathedral was set for construction. After seven years, this beautiful church with its Russian-Byzantine style was completed. The Holy Resurrection Cathedral is generally called "Nikolai-Do", thus named after St. Nikolai of Japan, Equal of the Apostles. Recently it was beautifully restored and on May 17, blessed by Bishop Theodosius.

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CHITA AND NAGOYA AREA

Orthodoxy was brought to Nagoya in 1874, by a missionary, Gregory Miyamoto?a graduate of Seminary. The first church was started in 1886, and completed one year later by the faithful in Fujituka-cho, in the Sakae Area. Fr. Peter Shibayama was in charge.

Early in the twentieth century, the Russia-Japan War occurred. In Nagoya, a prison camp was set up. Fr. Peter and church members sometimes visited the camp and held services. There still are 15 tombs of captives in Heiwa Cemetery in Meito Ward, and every spring the Nagoya church celebrates Panichida(service for the dead). Young Christians published coterie magazines, named "PANDANE(=Yeast)" and meetings were filled with people.

In those days, there were five churches in Chita Peninsula, and it is said that five hundred people were baptized. Now, only one church, St. John of Damascus, exists in Handa, Okkawa. The church was built 90 years ago and is still used.

In 1945, unfortunately like other big cities in Japan, Nagoya was burnt completely by airstrikes. Our church was also burnt down. In 1949, the church started a new history in Yamahana-cho. At first, a temporary small house was built and Fr. Jacob Hibi took care of it. Young Christians began to gather again. In 1972, a new church was built. It is small but has a heart-warming atmosphere. Every Sunday, around 30 Christians gather and share Holy Communion.

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