Nikolai may have been introduced to Putiatin by Goshkevich during the time of his first return (1869 to 1870).
In October, 1883, Putiatin died in Paris. In October, 1884, his daughter Olga Evfimovna Putiatina arrived in Tokyo to serve in the Orthodox Mission as a deaconess, as if to succeed to her father’s dedication to thejapanese Mission.
Nikolai came to Japan in the twilight years of the Tokugawa shogunate and worked in the new Japan of the Meiji era. His way to Japan was prepared by Goshkevich and his missionary work was supported by Putiatin.
Hieromonk Nikolai, whose original name was Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin, was born on August 1, 1836, in the village of Beyroza in Smolensk prefecture. His father, Dmitrii Kasatkin, was the village deacon. Ivan’s mother, Kseniya, died when he was five years old. Ivan was the second son. There are many folksy expressions in Nikolai’s diary entries, which show him to be a man of common origins. After completing his courses at the theological school and the Smolensk Seminary with distinction, he entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy on a scholarship.
While he was a seminarian at Smolensk, Ivan was already aspiring to join an Orthodox mission in a foreign country (specifically in China). However, during these years at the Theological Academy, he read Captain Golovnin’s famous Memoirs of a Captive in Japan, During the Years 1811, 1812, and 1813, and had a new dream — to go to Japan.
Some 44 years later, in 1904, Nikolai wrote from Tokyo to Archpriest N. V. Blagorazumov, his friend and classmate from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy:
«I wish to ask you a favor of you. Please send me a helper, that is, a good young missionary…. To tell you the truth, my friend Nikolai Vasilievich, our time was much better than now. You remember that as soon as an application appeared on the desk, it was filled up with names. Oh, what names! You and M. I. Gorchakov, the cream of the youth of the Academy, were included among them. And applying for what post? For the post of chaplain of a consular church». (Nikolai’s letter of April 8, 1904.)
Blagorazumov, the addressee, made the following memo about that letter: «At that time, ten or twelve student volunteers applied, all on condition of marriage, but Kasatkin alone decided to go as a monk and he beat the others». (See Nikolai Kedrov; Archibishop Nikolai in the Letters to Archpriest N. V. Blagorazumov.)
These young applicants represented the elite of the Theological Academy, and the post of chaplain of the consular church in Hakodate was only a small one for them. But ten or twelve student volunteers applied for the small post. They did not wish to protect their own interests, and did not desire to advance up the steps of the hierarchy in the Russian Orthodox Church. They wished to devote themselves to the cause of a Christian mission in one ’heathen’ country in the Far East.
Nikolai also wrote in his letter to Fr. Blagorazumov that «our time was much better than now». Herein lies one of the principal motives which spurred Nikolai and his classmates to missionary work. Their time was the 1860s, when Russia (having been defeated in the Crimean War) was trying to regenerate itself and build a new regime under the new Tsar Alexander II. This was the time of ’Great Reforms’, when Russia successively carried out new progressive reforms such as the emancipation of serfs, restructuring of judicial administration, establishment of local autonomy, and the like. Intense expectations for a new life pervaded the entire country.
The elite group of the students at the Theological Academy in the capital city of Russia were, although belonging to the naturally conservative world of the Orthodox Church, a kind of intelligentsia who had acquired high culture, had a good knowledge of European languages, and were well read in politics and ’belles lettres’.
Thus they were quite aware of the backwardness of their own country.
The application of elite students for the small post of chaplain in Hakodate clearly shows that they were influenced by the idealistic expectations of the 1860s. Though they were theological students, they were contemporaries of and held the high idealistic view of life in common with ’ Men of the 1860s (’Shestideshatniki’), the democratic writers noted for their criticism of the old regime of Russia.
In February, 1869, about eight years after his arrival in Hakodate, Nikolai published a long report entitled «Japan Also Will Be Fruitful — A Letter of a Russian in Hakodate» in Khristianskoe chtenie (The Christian Reading), in which he wrote: «Eight years ago I declared my wish to accept the post of chaplain of the consular church here with a missionary purpose. Who among the students at the Theological Academy would be determined to come here only in order to serve in a church, which is often completely empty, as there are not more than ten Orthodox Russians including babies here? At that time, by the way, there was much discussion about the necessity for a missionary academy in Russia and, if I am not mistaken, they set about to founding one. Thus I could expect that when it became necessary, comrades would join me and I would not remain here alone».
It must have been that the expectations of the advent of a new era had awakened the Russian religious world, paving the way for Orthodox missionary activity abroad was and prompting the plan to found a missionary academy. Stimulated by the renewed religious zeal of the time, Nikolai must have decided to go to Japan with the Word of God.
On June 23, 1860, Ivan Kasatkin was tonsured as a monk with the name of Nikolai and was ordained as a hieromonk on June 30. On August 1, 1860, the 24 year–old Nikolai set out across Siberia on his journey to the Far East. He arrived in Nikolaevsk–on–Amur at the end of September. By that late date, travel by ship had been halted and he was forced to spend the winter in Nikolaevsk.
Fortunately he met there a man of great missionary experience, Archbishop Innokentii (Popov–Veniaminov) of Kamchatka, who was also wintering there. [5]Innokentii gave Nikolai much valuable advice and instruction. He advised Nikolai to translate the Bible and prayer books into the language of the people who were to be converted to Christianity, and to make the belief rooted in their native culture. This was, as it were, valuable personal guidance for missionary activities.
In April, 1861, Nikolai departed Nikolaevsk on the warship Amur and arrived in Hakodate on July 2. [6]Hakodate at the end of Edo period was a small but lively port city with residents from various parts of Japan and even from foreign countries. However, it was a difficult time for a Christian missionary, because the preaching of Christian doctrine was still strictly prohibited.
At first the young Nikolai was deeply disappointed in his expectations. He later said to Father Sergii (Stragorodskii) that «When I was on my journey, I dreamed much about Japan. It appeared in my imagination as a bride awaiting my arrival with a bouquet. I expected that soon the good news of Christ would spread into its darkness and everything would be renewed. Having arrived here, I saw that my bride was enjoying the most prosaic sleep and was thinking nothing of me». (Archimandrite Sergii. In the Far East (Na Dal’nem Vostoke, 1897).
Young Nikolai immediately began to prepare himself to awake the ’sleeping bride’. While attending to his duties as the consular chaplain, Nikolai studied the Japanese language with untiring enthusiasm, learned the history of Japan, and tried to establish first–hand contacts with Japanese people. He wrote in the above–mentioned «Letter of a Russian in Hakodate» how he learned Japanese:
«When I arrived in Japan, I summoned up my strength and began to study the local language. Much time and effort were lost while I was getting acquainted with this barbaric language, no doubt the most difficult language in the world… And people such as the notorious Frenchman Rosny, half knowing the language, dare to write Japanese grammars. You have to throw such grammars into the corner like useless junk after a week in Japan. For a long time to come students of Japanese will have to learn by instinct through the reading of books and the mechanical memorization of various phrases of the spoken and written language. In this way I have somehow finally learned to speak and to be able to use the simplest written forms for translations and original compositions. Having so much knowledge, I immediately began to translate the New Testament into Japanese». (Trans. by Fr. John Bartholomew.) [7]
Nikolai also wrote in «the Letter» that he had secretly begun to preach Christianity among the Japanese.
«By the way, I tried to do all that is possible directly for missionary purposes. Firstly, of course, it was necessary to find men who, having accepted Christianity, would be able in their turn to devote themselves to the propagation of Christianity.
Four years after my arrival in Japan, God sent me one man. A year later he found himself a friend and in the course of that year they found a third colleague». (Trans. by Fr. John Bartholomew.)
«From all that has been stated above», Nikolai concluded, «it seems we can expect that there will be an abundant harvest in Japan, at least in the immediate future… Catholicism and Protestantism have occupied the whole world… But here is still a country, the last one in a number of newly discovered countries. If only we could stand here coping with other Christian confessions… God will provide that I will not be deserted and will not remain here alone, doomed to fruitless solitary work. I came here with that hope and have been living here with it for seven years. Realization of the hope has been my earnest prayer…
So I submitted an application to grant me leave. When I obtain permission, I will go to St. Petersburg to petition the Holy Synod for establishing a mission here».
Nikolai returned to Russia at the beginning of 1869 and stayed there for nearly two years. In St. Petersburg he petitioned the Holy Synod and influential persons of the Church for the establishment of a Russian Orthodox mission in Japan.
The Diaries of St. Nikolai of Japan open with an entry for March 1, 1870, written at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.
His efforts were crowned with success. On April 6, 1870, foundation of the mission was approved by the Holy Synod and Nikolai was appointed its head and promoted from Hieromonk to Archimandrite.
The mission had a small staff which consisted of three priests besides Nicholas and one subdeacon. It was provided with an annual budget of 6,000 rubles. Nikolai visited all four theological academies in Russia and attempted to persuade some of the students to join him in missionary work in Japan, but to his disappointment none of them responded to his call.
In February, 1871, Nikolai returned to Hakodate with a colleague, Father Grigorii (Volontsov). However, Father Grigorii turned out to be (according Nikolai’s diary entry for January 1, 1872) too idle to be a missionary, and Nikolai had to send him back to Russia in June, 1871.
In December of that year, Hieromonk Anatolii (Alexander Dmitrievich Tikhai), a graduate of the Kiev Theological Academy, arrived in Hakodate to assist Nikolai.
In January, 1872, Nikolai left Hieromonk Anatolii in charge at Hakodate and set out for Yokohama by sea, eventually arriving in Tokyo on February 4. He immediately began preaching Orthodox Christianity in the new capital of Japan. Since then, for more than 40 years, with untiring zeal, Nikolai continued to promulgate Orthodoxy in Japan.
In August, 1879, Nicholal returned to Russia for the second and final time, staying there until November, 1880 to collect contributions for construction of the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection in Tokyo. During his stay in St. Petersburg, on March 30 (O. S), 1880, Nikolai was consecrated as a Bishop.
The greatest misfortune to befall Nikolai and the Japanese Orthodox Church of the Meiji era was the Russo–Japanese War of 1904–1905.
Although the entire staff of the Russian Legation returned to Russia, Nikolai himself remained in Tokyo to defend his flock against the attacks of non–Christian and Protestant Japanese. He also worked for the welfare of the Russian captives in Japan (who numbered more than 70000) and sent Japanese Orthodox priests and Russian–speaking catechists to the prisoners’ camps to provide the Russians with some religious consolation.
Throughout the war, Nikolai wrote his diary; indeed this period marks the climax of his diary writing. The war ended in September, 1905. In April, 1906, Bishop Nikolai was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop. Six years later, on February 16 (3 O. S.), Nikolai — the Apostle to Japan — passed away.
In 1911, just before his death, the Japanese Orthodox Church numbered (in addition to Archbishop Nikolai) 1 bishop, 40 priests and deacons, 15 precentors (regents), 121 catechists, 31984 Orthodox Christians, and 265 churches and houses of prayer.
The enlightenment of Japan during the Meiji era encompassed the westernization of Japanese politics, social relations, industry and so forth. The westernization of Japan in the field of religion meant the implantation of Christianity, which has since then obtained a considerably wide acceptance in the Japanese people and has had a great influence upon their spiritual life.
However, the Christianity newly implanted in Meiji Japan was not a single kind. It comprised at least three varieties: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy, each of which had its own characteristic influence on the Japanese people. (For the reopened Japan, Orthodoxy introduced from Russia was one of the ’western’ faiths.)
The history of Protestant missions in Japan has been investigated in detail. Protestantism spread mostly among those young Japanese intellectuals who were eager to study ’Western science’. From the start, Protestant missionaries in Japan made use of the English language (the indispensable key to Western learning) to attract young Japanese. (Please see the article «Protestant Mission» by Masao Takenaka in The Cyclopedia of the History of Christianity in Japan, Tokyo, 1988.)
5
Archbishop Innokentii of Kamchatka was engaged in missionary work on islands in the vast area of Russian Alaska. In 1868, when he was 70 years old, Innokentii succeeded Filaret as Metropolitan of Moscow. After Innokentii passed away in 1879, Nikolai was presented the mitre left by the deceased Innokentii. (See his diary for June 1, 1880.).
6
Previously, the accepted date of Nikolai’s arrival at Hakodate was June 2 (O. S.), 1861, but the correct date seems to be July 2 (O. S.). See the article printed in The Hakodate Nitiniti Shinbun (The Hakodate Daily News) for July 6, 1911, «Nikolai’s View of Hakodate, — the japan of 50 years ago», in which Nikolai said that he «arrived at Hakodate in the beginning of July» in 1861.
In a letter of August 21, 1863, to the chief procurator of the Holy Synod A. P. Akhmatov, Nikolai wrote that «on July 2 (O. S.) of this year, two years have elapsed since I arrived here».
7
See Rev. John Bartholomew’s English translations from Russian; A History of the Japanese Orthodox Church by A. Bakulevski, and Archbishop Nicholas of Japan; Reminiscences and Characteristics by Dmitriy. Pozdneev.