St. Nicholas of Japan

St. Nicholas of Japan was born Ivan Kasatkin on 1 August 1836 in the Russian province of Smolensk. Ordained and made a monk, he went in 1861 to Japan as chaplain to the Russian consulate at Hakodate, at a time when Christianity was still forbidden and despised there. Rather than remain within the consulate, he devoted himself to a deep study of the Japanese language, culture, and religion, and to winning the trust of the people, converting even a samurai priest who had come intending to kill him.

Over half a century he built, almost from nothing, a flourishing native Orthodox Church, training Japanese clergy, translating the Scriptures and liturgical books into Japanese, and raising the great cathedral in Tokyo still known as "Nikorai-do" after him. He remained faithfully at his post even through the Russo-Japanese War, when his adopted country and his homeland were at war, counseling his flock to pray for Japan. He died in Tokyo on 16 February 1912, the Apostle of Japan, and was glorified as a saint in 1970.