Russians in Japan
Encyclopedia
The first recorded landing of Russians
in Japan ( Zai-Nichi Roshia-jin) was in 1739 in Kamogawa
, Chiba
during the times of Japan
ese seclusion of the Edo period
, not counting landings in Hokkaidō
, which was not under Japanese administration at these times.
of Russia in Japan, dates from 1861. A hospital had been previously built at Hakodate for Russians and Japanese. The Rev. Nikolai Kasatkin (later St Nicholas of Japan), was attached to it as chaplain with a church near the hospital. The hospital was destroyed by fire, though the church remained, and Nicholas stayed as a missionary at Hakodate, where he baptized a number of Japanese. In 1870 the Russian minister to Japan obtained a grant of a special territory as a branch of the Russian legation
at Surugadai
at the very center of Tokyo
. Here Father Nicholas established his residence and the center of the Orthodox Church. He began by training well-instructed men and native assistants, for which purpose he had an ordinary college and a school of philosophy and theology; later on he also had a special school for young women. He preached his religion by means of carefully trained catechists and priest
s. From 1881 he also had a religious review, published twice monthly, and a publication committee installed at his house published many books. In 1886 Fr Nicholas was consecrated bishop
in Russia, and in 1890 he completed the erection of his cathedral
.
Bishop Nicholas enjoyed a great personal esteem; he founded and governed everything pertaining to his mission. During the Russo-Japanese War
the situation was very delicate, but the Christians, at least the greater number of them, did not abandon him. Even during this time he continued all his undertakings unmolested, his house being guarded without by Japanese soldiers
. Prior to that, he received from the Holy Synod
95,000 yen yearly, but during the Russo-Japanese War, these and other resources from Russia were greatly diminished, while on the other hand the price of everything in Japan increased. The bishop was compelled to diminish his expenses, to dismiss part of his staff, and to exhort the Christians to contribute more generously to support their church.
After the victories of the Japanese over the Russian armies, the Christians leaders, after having agreed among themselves, declared to Archbishop Nicholas their intention to support themselves, independent of Russia. As Russia has its national church they wished to have also their Japanese National Church.
Little has been written concerning the work of the Russians in Japan; even in Russia almost nothing has been published. According to one Protestant reckoning, the Orthodox church numbered 30,166 baptized Christians; according to another only 13,000 (the last figure denotes perhaps practicing members). There were 37 native priests and 139 catechists. Expenses for church and evangelization in 1907 amounted to 55,279 yen; contributions of Christians, 10,711 yen; Churches or places of preaching, 265. Among the Russians, as among Protestants, and everywhere throughout Japan, the tendency was toward independence.
After the Russian Revolution
and Russian Civil War
, about 2,000,000 Russian refugees who did not accept the Bolshevik
rule entered mostly the United States and Europe. Some of them settled in the Home Islands
of Japan. Traditionally these refugees have been known as White Russians
, with the corresponding Japanese term being Hakkei-Roshiajin, a term which been applied to all former residents of the former Russian Empire
.
Initially the majority of Russians lived in Tokyo
and Yokohama
. After the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 a significant number of them moved to Kobe
.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
in Japan ( Zai-Nichi Roshia-jin) was in 1739 in Kamogawa
Kamogawa, Chiba
is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 35,257 and a population density of 184 persons per km². The total area was 191.30 km²...
, Chiba
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
during the times of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese seclusion of the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, not counting landings in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, which was not under Japanese administration at these times.
Russian missions
The Russian Mission, or Orthodox ChurchRussian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
of Russia in Japan, dates from 1861. A hospital had been previously built at Hakodate for Russians and Japanese. The Rev. Nikolai Kasatkin (later St Nicholas of Japan), was attached to it as chaplain with a church near the hospital. The hospital was destroyed by fire, though the church remained, and Nicholas stayed as a missionary at Hakodate, where he baptized a number of Japanese. In 1870 the Russian minister to Japan obtained a grant of a special territory as a branch of the Russian legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
at Surugadai
Surugadai
is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was named after the fact that after Tokugawa Ieyasu's death, Edo government let officials from Sunpu live in the area. The postal code is 101-0062. Kanda-Surugadai is often called or, colloquially, ....
at the very center of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Here Father Nicholas established his residence and the center of the Orthodox Church. He began by training well-instructed men and native assistants, for which purpose he had an ordinary college and a school of philosophy and theology; later on he also had a special school for young women. He preached his religion by means of carefully trained catechists and priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s. From 1881 he also had a religious review, published twice monthly, and a publication committee installed at his house published many books. In 1886 Fr Nicholas was consecrated bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
in Russia, and in 1890 he completed the erection of his cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
.
Bishop Nicholas enjoyed a great personal esteem; he founded and governed everything pertaining to his mission. During the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
the situation was very delicate, but the Christians, at least the greater number of them, did not abandon him. Even during this time he continued all his undertakings unmolested, his house being guarded without by Japanese soldiers
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
. Prior to that, he received from the Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
95,000 yen yearly, but during the Russo-Japanese War, these and other resources from Russia were greatly diminished, while on the other hand the price of everything in Japan increased. The bishop was compelled to diminish his expenses, to dismiss part of his staff, and to exhort the Christians to contribute more generously to support their church.
After the victories of the Japanese over the Russian armies, the Christians leaders, after having agreed among themselves, declared to Archbishop Nicholas their intention to support themselves, independent of Russia. As Russia has its national church they wished to have also their Japanese National Church.
Little has been written concerning the work of the Russians in Japan; even in Russia almost nothing has been published. According to one Protestant reckoning, the Orthodox church numbered 30,166 baptized Christians; according to another only 13,000 (the last figure denotes perhaps practicing members). There were 37 native priests and 139 catechists. Expenses for church and evangelization in 1907 amounted to 55,279 yen; contributions of Christians, 10,711 yen; Churches or places of preaching, 265. Among the Russians, as among Protestants, and everywhere throughout Japan, the tendency was toward independence.
Russian Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, about 2,000,000 Russian refugees who did not accept the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
rule entered mostly the United States and Europe. Some of them settled in the Home Islands
Japanese Archipelago
The , which forms the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean...
of Japan. Traditionally these refugees have been known as White Russians
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
, with the corresponding Japanese term being Hakkei-Roshiajin, a term which been applied to all former residents of the former Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
Initially the majority of Russians lived in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
. After the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 a significant number of them moved to Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
.
Modern times
As of 2005, the statistics of Japanese government reported 37,000 Russians enter Japan yearly on average, not counting temporary landing permits of seamen and tourists. The number of Russians that stay in Japan longer than 90 days (the maximal duration of a temporary visa in Japan) is about 6,000.See also
- Nikolay Rezanov, the first Russian ambassador in Japan
- Japanese language education in RussiaJapanese language education in RussiaJapanese language education in Russia formally dates back to December 1701 or January 1702, when Dembei, a shipwrecked Japanese merchant, was taken to Moscow and ordered to begin teaching the language as soon as possible...
- Ethnic issues in JapanEthnic issues in Japan- Demographic :About 1.6% of Japan's total legal resident population are foreign nationals. Of these, according to 2008 data from the Japanese government, the principal groups are as follows....