Nikolai

Japanese: ニコライ - Ｎｉｋｏｌａｉ

Year of death: February 16, 1912 (Meiji 45)
Year of birth: 1836.8.1 (1836.8.13)
The first Russian Orthodox missionary to Japan. His real name was Ioan Demitrovich Kasatkin. He was born in Smolensk, Russia. He came to Hakodate in 1861 (Bunkyu 1) during the end of the Edo period, and moved to Tokyo in 1872 (Meiji 5). He is the founder of the Japanese Orthodox Church, and in 1870 there were 88 churches and 5,000 believers, and he also produced many talented people in the art world. In 1891 he built the Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral (Nicholas Cathedral). In the same year he visited the Russian crown prince (later Emperor Nicholas II) who was injured in the Otsu incident while visiting Japan, and asked the emperor to advise him to avoid declaring war against Japan. He did not return to Japan during the Russo-Japanese War, instead admonishing his followers to maintain loyalty to their earthly homeland as Japanese citizens, and after the war he sent priests to comfort the more than 70,000 Russian prisoners of war who were interned throughout the country. He made great contributions to the friendship between Japan and Russia in diplomatic and cultural fields, including the publication of the Japanese version of the Bible, and was highly trusted by both governments. In 1906, he was promoted to Archbishop, and when he died, Emperor Meiji presented him with a wreath. He is buried in Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo. <Works> "Japan at the End of the Tokugawa Period as Seen by Nicholas" translated by Nakamura Kennosuke <References> "The Orthodox Church of Japan in the Meiji Period", "Meiji Culture and Nicholas" by Ushimaru Yasuo

(Oe Mitsuru)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治45.2.16(1912)
生年：1836.8.1(1836.8.13)
ロシア正教会最初の来日宣教師。本名ヨアン・デミトロヴィチ・カサートキン。ロシアのスモレンスクに生まれる。幕末の文久1(1861)年箱館に来日,明治5(1872)年東京へ移る。日本ハリストス正教会の創始者で,同13年には教会88,信徒5000人を数え,芸術界にも優秀な人材を輩出した。同24年東京復活大聖堂(ニコライ堂)を建立。同年大津事件で負傷した来日中のロシア皇太子(のちの皇帝ニコライ2世)を見舞い,皇帝に対日宣戦回避の進言を要請する。日露戦争時下も帰国せず信徒に日本国民としての地上の祖国への忠義の堅持を諭し,戦後は全国に分散収容された7万人以上のロシア兵捕虜の慰問のために司祭を送った。聖書の日本語版の出版なども含め,外交,文化面で果たした日露友好への貢献は大きく,両政府から信頼も厚く,同39年に大主教に昇授,永眠時,明治天皇は恩賜の花輪を贈呈した。東京・谷中墓地に埋葬される。<著作>中村健之介訳『ニコライの見た幕末日本』<参考文献>『明治の日本ハリストス正教会』,牛丸康夫『明治文化とニコライ』

(大江満)

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