Nicholas of Japan

Saint Nicholas of Japan
Nikolai Kasatkin
Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan
Born	August 13 [O.S. August 1] 1836
Died	February 16, 1912(1912-02-16) (aged 75)
Venerated in	Eastern orthodox
Canonized	1970, Tokyo, Japan
Major shrine	Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral
Feast	February 16 (old style)/February 3

Saint Nicholas, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan, born Ivan Dimitrovich Kasatkin (Russian: Иван Дмитриевич Касаткин; August 13 [O.S. August 1] 1836 – February 16, 1912) was a Russian Orthodox priest, monk, bishop, and saint. He introduced the Eastern Orthodox Church to Japan. The Orthodox cathedral of Tokyo (metropolitan diocese of Japan), Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral, was informally named after him as Nikorai-do, first by the local community, and today nationwide, in remembrance of his work.

Nicholas was born in the Smolensk prefecture in the Russian Empire to Dimitry Kasatkin, a Russian Orthodox deacon. His mother died when he was five years old. He grew up in the church hierarchy: in 1857 he entered the Theological Academy in Saint Petersburg. On July 7, 1860 (July 19 in the Gregorian calendar), he became a monk and chose the name of Nicholas. Nicholas was ordained a deacon on July 12 (July 24) in the same year, on the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul. He was ordained a priest the next day, on the feast day of the Holy Apostles, the commemoration day of the Academy's Chapel of the Holy Apostles.

On July 2, 1861, Nicholas landed at Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan, as a priest attached to the chapel of the Russian consulate in Hakodate. He had volunteered for the appointment to this duty, attracted since the day he noticed a poster calling for a priest for this chapel when he was a seminary student. After he arrived at the consulate, he studied Japanese and quickly gained mastery of the language.