Дневники св. Николая Японского. Том Ι

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.

Nikolai’s Journey to Japan

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.

Nikolai in Hakodate

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: