Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, Archbishop and Enlightener of Japan

Ivan Kasatkin was born in 1836 in the Smolensk region, the son of a deacon. While a student at the Theological Academy in St Petersburg he saw a notice asking for a priest for the Russian consulate in Hakodate, volunteered, and was tonsured with the name Nicholas. He landed in Japan in 1861 and spent years studying its language, history and religions. One of his first converts, the former samurai Sawabe Takuma, had first come to his house intending to kill him.

From Tokyo he built up the Japanese Orthodox Church: he translated the services and the New Testament into Japanese, founded a seminary and schools, and in 1891 consecrated the Resurrection Cathedral, still known as Nikorai-do. During the Russo-Japanese War he stayed with his flock. He died in 1912 and was canonized in 1970.