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His Grace the Right Reverend [[Bishop ]] '''Nicholas (Ono) of Japan''' was consecrated as the ruling bishop of the [[Church of Japan]] in 1941 when the militaristic Japanese government required the heads of all religious groups in Japan to be Japanese nationals. He was the first Japanese national to be consecrated an Orthodox [[bishop]].

Fr. Future Bishop Nicholas Ono was a [[priest]] in the Church of Japan.  As the Japanese military grew in power within Japan during the 1930s, the government became more and more nationalist and militaristic. In 1940, the government passed laws that all institutions, including religious ones, must be headed by Japanese nationals. Thus, [[Sergius (Tikhomirov) of Japan|Metr. Sergius]], who was the [[Archbishop]] of Tokyo and [[Metropolitan]] of All Japan, and his choir director, [[Victor Pokrovsky]], as non-Japanese born membersKiichi Yamazaki on September 8, were forced all out of the Church administration. With the forced "retirement" of Metr. Sergius1872, in the government required that a Japanese be [[enthronement|enthroned]] as the ruling bishop. Obeying the edict, a council village of the Japanese Church was held Kannami in 1941 that elected Archpriest Nicholas Ono as the new bishopShizuoka Prefecture. As When he was marriedstill in elementary school, his wife was sent to a [[monastery]] in Harbin, Manchuria, which was then ruled by Japan. Fr. Nicholas was then [[consecration|consecrated]] as the ruling bishop of Japan by Archbishop Nestor of Harbin, who was cooperating with the military government. Thus, Bp. Nicholas became the first Japanese Orthodox to be consecrated an Orthodox bishop in Japan and remained in that position until the end of World War II. Subsequentlyolder brother, Bp. Nicholas reconciled himself with the Japanese Orthodox Church before he died.  {{start box}} {{succession|before=[[Sergius (Tikhomirov) of Japan|Sergius (Tikhomirov)]]|title=Bishop of Tokyo|years=1941-1945|after=[[Benjamin (Basalyga) of Pittsburgh|Benjamin (Basalyga)]]}}{{end box}}  [[Category:Bishops]]Yamazaki Kenzabur