Nicholas of Japan

Life events

1. Born — 1836

   Ivan Dmitrovich Kasatkin was born on 13 August 1836 (O.S. 1 August) in the Smolensk prefecture of the Russian Empire to Dimitry Kasatkin, a Russian Orthodox deacon. His mother died when he was five years old.

2. Tonsured — 1860

   On 24 June 1860, he was tonsured a monk with the name Nicholas by the rector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, Bishop Nectarius Nadezhdin. He was ordained deacon on 29 July 1860 and ordained to the priesthood the following day.

3. Other — 1861

   On 2 July 1861, Nicholas landed at Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, as a priest attached to the chapel of the Russian consulate. He had volunteered for the appointment after noticing a poster calling for a priest while still a seminary student, and spent his early years studying Japanese, Buddhism, and the history and culture of Japan.

4. Other — 1870

   In 1870, Nicholas was elevated to archimandrite and relocated to Tokyo, purchasing property on a height in Kanda Surugadai that became the headquarters of his mission and later the seat of the Orthodox Archbishop of Japan. By that year the Orthodox community numbered more than 4,000 people.

5. Consecrated — 1880

   Nicholas was consecrated bishop on 30 March 1880 as Bishop of Reval (modern Tallinn), serving as auxiliary to the Archdiocese of Riga. Although he never visited Reval, the parish there provided financial support for his Japanese mission.

6. Other — 1891

   Nicholas presided over the consecration of the Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral in 1891. The cathedral, built on the Kanda Surugadai heights, was informally named Nikorai-do by the local community in memory of his work, a name that is used nationwide in Japan today.

7. Other — 1907

   On 6 April 1907, the Russian Orthodox Holy Synod elevated Nicholas to the dignity of Archbishop of All Japan. By 1912, his mission had grown to approximately 33,000 faithful across 266 Orthodox communities throughout Japan.

8. Died — 1912

   Nicholas died on 16 February 1912 in Tokyo. His body was buried in Tokyo Metropolitan Yanaka Cemetery, near Ueno. In 1970, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized him as Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan.

Relationships

Documented claims

• One of Nicholas's first three Japanese converts, Sawabe Takuma, was a former samurai and Shinto priest who came to Nicholas's home intending to kill him; after conversion, Sawabe became one of the first Japanese Orthodox priests. (likely)
• Nicholas translated all Orthodox liturgical books and most of the New Testament and Psalms into Japanese, with assistance from scholar Nakai Tsugumaro; these translations remain in liturgical use in the Japanese Orthodox Church today. (likely)
• During the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas did not participate in public services because the Orthodox liturgy required praying for the defeat of the enemy — Japan's enemy being his own homeland Russia. Instead he encouraged his Japanese faithful to pray and contribute to the Japanese military, and sent priests to care for Russian prisoners of war. (likely)
• Nicholas kept a diary in Russian for decades recording the pastoral life of the early Japanese Orthodox Church and his observations of Meiji-era Japan. Believed destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, the diary was rediscovered by Russian literary researcher Kennosuke Nakamura and published in five volumes in 2004. (likely)
• Nicholas published 'Japan from the point of view of Christian mission' in 1869, described as the first account of Japanese Buddhism accessible to Russian-language readers, the product of eight years of dedicated study of Buddhism, Japanese history, and culture. (likely)