82
edits
Changes
→History
The early mission to establish the Japanese Orthodox Church depended on the Russian Orthodox Church, especially in financial matters. The war between Russia and Japan created a politically difficult situation for the church. After the Bolshevik Revolution, the Japanese government had new suspicions about the Japanese Orthodox Church, in particular, that it was used as a cover for communist Russian espionage. The second bishop of Japan, [[Metropolitan]] [[Sergius (Tikhomirov) of Japan|Sergius (Tikhomirov)]], suffered severely from such governmental suspicion, and he was forced to resign his episcopacy and died under strange circumstances on [[August 10]], 1945, five days before the end of the war. The Russian Church similarly suffered from Stalinist policy and had no ability to help the young church in Japan.
During the Fifteen Years War (1930-1945), which from 1939 to 1945 was part of World War II, Christianity in Japan suffered under severe conditions, the Orthodox Church especially. After the Japanese surrender, the Allied occupation had a generous attitude to Christianity, given its predominantly American composition. As the majority of the Slavic- and Greek-Americans would attend local Orthodox parishes, Orthodoxy in Japan took a step forward. During the war, the Japanese Orthodox Church had almost no foreign contact. After the war, instead of the Russian Church, the American Metropolia, the precursors of the [[Orthodox Church in America]] (OCA) helped re-establish the Japanese Orthodox Church, and since 1946 Archbishops appointed by the American Metropolia ruled the Church of Japan. In that time, several youth who studied at the OCA's [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] in New York are now the leaders of Japanese Orthodox Church. While a minority, under the leadership of Bp. [[Nicholas (Ono) of Japan|Nicholas]] aligned itself with the Moscow Patriarchate , and known "Russian Podvorye Orthodox Church in 1945Japan".
Later, as the situation of the Russian Orthodox Church improved, the Japanese Orthodox Church came under the leadership of the [[Church of Russia]] again. In 1970 [[Nicholas of Japan|Nikolai Kasatkin]] was glorified by the Patriarch of Moscow and is recognized as St. Nikolai, [[Apostle]] to Japan. His commemoration day is [[February 16]]. In 2000 the Russian Orthodox Church [[Glorification|glorified]] Bishop [[Andronik of Perm|Andronic (Nikolsky)]] as a [[saint]] and [[martyr]]. He was appointed the first bishop of Kyoto and later martyred as the [[archbishop]] of Perm during the Russian Revolution.
Today the Russian Podvorye and the Church of Japan are reconciled and in so good terms that the former remembers both Patriach Alexey II and Metropolitan of All Japan in their liturgy, and that they concecrate a [[molieben]] in honor of St. Nikolai on his feast day.
==Hierarchy==
