Diocese of Western Japan

Churches

■Toyohashi Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew Church

■Inquiries;
　Address: 3, Hachimachi-dori, Toyohashi-shi
　Tel.:　05-3254-0434
　Priest:　Isaia　Sakai (Izaya)

■Nagoya Annunciation Church

　Orthodoxy was first transmitted to Nagoya in 1874 (Meiji, year 7). The first to recieve baptizm was Kondo Seibei、and by 1877 (Meiji 10) there were 6 preaching stations opened.　On Christmas, 1881(Meiji 14), it is recorded that 54 persons prayed together.
　In the beginning、the priest would visit from the Okazaki Church. In 1881 (Meiji 14) a prayer house was established in Nagoya, Fujitsuka. In 1899 (Meiji 32) it was authorized as the Nagoya Orthodox Church and Fr. Petr Shibayama became the first priest in charge of the new church.
　At the time of the Russo-Japanese War, camps for Russian prisoners-of-war were set up throughout Nagoya. Fr. Shibayama visited the camps and persevered in prayers together with the captives. During World War II, the church building constructed in 1913 (Taisho 2) was burned down. It was after this calamity, that the church moved to its present location and in (Showa 47) the present building was constructed.
　The Nagoya Orthodox Chruch is currently to be found at the heart of Nagoya City. It is situated in the school district, nearby Nagoya, Nanzan, Chuukyou and Meijou Universties. For that reason, many exchange students from the Balkan countries and from Russia also come to participate in the prayers. The faithful of the Nagoya church gather from Aichi, Gifu, Mie and Ishikawa Prefectures.

■Inquiries:
Address: 63, Yamahana-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya
Tel./Fax:　05-2751-6760　
Priest:　　Georgy Matshushima (Yuichi)
E-mail:　nagoya@orthodox-jp.com
Home Page: http://www.orthodox-jp.com/nagoya

■Handa St. John of Damascus Church

　Located approximately in the middle of the Chita peninsula、once renowned for cotton goods、but now, rather, famous for its breweries, the city of Handa is the home of this church. Its building, dating from 1913 (Taisho 2), is still a strong, solid structure to this day. The history of this church can be traced to the arrival of the first catechist from Nagoya to the village of Utsumi village near Handa in (Meiji 16)That year, 48 persons recieved baptism there. Afterwards, Orthodox faithful appeared in many regions of Handa. The Handa Orthodox Church from (Meiji 18) was, after World war II, merged with the Okkawa Church and thus the present Handa Church came to be. The icons inside the church are thought to be genuine articles executed in the 18th-19th century. As for the construction of the hall itself, it is the fruit of the labors of a Chita shire master-carpenter (daiku) of those days.

■Inquiries:
Address: 3-33, Okkawa Nishi-no-Miya, Handa, Aichi-ken
Tel./Fax:　（Nagoya Orthodox Church） 05-2751-6760
Presiding Priest:　Georgii Matshushima (Yuichi)　
E-mail:　nagoya@orthodox-jp.com

■Kyoto Annunciation Cathedral

The Orthodox mission in the Kyoto district can be traced back to the1880 (Meiji 13) public sermons delivered in Taiza and Mineyama by Pavel Nakakouji - an Orthodox catechist and a native of Taiza (Tango region, Hyogo Pref.), dispatched to Tokushima,- as he was returning to his hometown. As for Kyoto City proper, in 1889 (Meiji 22), a lecture hall was founded in the central district of the city, at Oshikouji-douri, Takakura, Nishiiru. Kirill Sasaba (Masakichi) was dispatched as a full-time catechist and commenced propagation, temporarily under the supervision of Fr. Ioann Ono (Shogoro), the presiding priest of the Osaka church. From 1890 to 1893 (Meiji 23 - 26) Russian Hieromonk Sergii (Stragorodsky. Subsequently, the Patriarch of All Russia. In Japan, Archimandrite Sergii is famous for his authorship of "Hokkaido Travel Notes" (Hokkaido Junkaiki). In his mid-twenties, he spent three years of his life engaged in pastoral work in Kyoto.

1894 (Meiji 27) saw the arrival of the new head of the Kyoto mission, Fr. Simeon Mii (Michiro), with the purchase of the present grounds of the church in Yanagi-no-Banba, Doori-Nijo Agaru (site of the old Kyoto Noh Theatre) following in 1897 (Meiji 30). Here, in December of 1901 (Meiji 34), following the design of a Kyoto engineer, Matsumuro Shigemitsu, the present house of worship, the Church of Annunciation, was erected. In May of 1903 (Meiji 36) Bishop Nikolai himself visited the new church and blessed it with his prayers. From the start, the Kyoto Orthodox Women`s School was also established as an annex to the church, and put under the supervision of Nadezhda Takahashi (Ine), dispatched from Tokyo. In 1906 (Meijji 39) Hieromonk Andronik (Nikol`skii. He served only 3 months as a Bishop in Japan) was consecrated Bishop of Kyoto to aid Bishop Nikolay. (In 1918, at the height of the terrors of the Russian Revolution, he was executed by the Soviet troops. In 2000, Andronik was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as one of the new Russian Holy Hieromartyrs, Bishop of Perm）. Bishop Sergei (Tikhomirov) who became the Metropolitan of Japan after the repose of Bishop Nikolai, upon his arrival to Japan in 1908 (Meiji 41), also received the nominal title of the Bishop of Kyoto.

After the years of the service of Fr. Andrei Metoki (Kingo) as the presiding priest, the arrival of Fr. Vissarion Takahashi (Choshichi) in 1932 (Showa 7), signaled the onset of the troubled era of militarism and war. While this church was saved from the ravages of war, at the end of WWII it was earmarked for destruction in order to clear firebreaks in the city, but luckily it once again avoided that fate since the war came to an end. The successive priests presiding over the Kyoto church are Fr. Grigorii Naito (Mitsuo)、Fr. Vasilii Sakai (Mitsuru)、 Fr. Iakov Hibi (Yoshio)、Fr. Mark Koike (Hiroyuki).

In 1986 (Showa 61) the church building was designated "tangible cultural property" by the Kyoto Metropolitan Administration, and in the following 1987 (Showa 62) a general program of restoration was commenced with a complete re-roofing of the church with copper sheets. In 1999 (Heisei 11) the flooring was repaired and re-carpeted, and both the inner and outer walls repainted, with other works continuing presently.
As the church is located in the "University District" of Kyoto, it became a characteristic of the recent years that researchers and students from various Orthodox countries come to participate in our prayers.

In May 2000 (Heisei 12), Patriarch Aleksei of the Russian Orthodox Church also paid a visit to our church.

■Inquiries:
Address: 6-283, Yanagi-no-banba, Dori-Nijo Agaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto city. 604-0965
Tel.: 07-5231-2453 (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM)
Presiding Priest: Ioan Ono (Sadaharu)
E-mail: ocj_kyoto@yahoo.co.jp

■Osaka Protection of the Theotokos Church

　In the Osaka region, the proclamation of the Gospel commenced in 1874 (Meiji 7), has began in earnest in March of 1878 (Meiji 11) with 37 catechumens recieving baptism and the founding of the preaching station, thus giving birth to the Osaka Orthodox Church. In July of 1910 (Meiji 43)、a wooden church in the Byzantine style was erected in Osaka`s Tenmabashi district and recieved the name of the Osaka Church of the Protection of the Theotokos. Yet, predating this church, in 1908 (Meiji 41) there was constructed another, similar to the Matsuyama Resurrection Church (relocated to Tokyo after the Tokyo Earthquake of 1923), built with the gifts and donations of the Russian captives of the Russo-Japanese war for the memory of their fallen comrades.
Regrettably, in June of 1945 (Showa 20) the Osaka Church of the Protection of the Theotokos was reduced to ashes in the firebombing of the city.

In April 1962 (Showa 37), the Osaka church saw itself restored in the present location as a building in the Byzantine style, but constructed of reinforced concrete of modern architecture. Its iconostas has the distiction of being written by the Moscow icon-painter Gur'yanov. It was donated to the Matsuyama church on Shikoku from Moscow by Kseniya Fedorovna Kolesnikova, but, by way of Tokyo, eventually made its way to Osaka. There also is a set of six bells of varying size, donated to the Osaka church in 1910 (Meiji 43) by Ioann Andreevich Kolesnikov of Moscow. Two of the six were requisitioned during the war, by replicas were manufactured to take their place, so now as in 1910 (Meiji 43) the sound of all six bells sings together with our prayers. Moreover, one will find displayed in our church the icons of the Last Supper and of the Theotokos by Irina Yamashita (Rin).

Finally, the assistant of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nikolai in his translation of the Bible and various prayers into Japanese, Pavel Nakai (Tsugumaro), belonged to the Osaka church, He was also the last dean, professor and Chinese scholar (Kangaku-sha) in the Edo-period Osaka public university, the Kaitoku-do (which now became the Osaka University).

■Inquiries:
Address: 1-8-15, Yamate-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka-fu
Tel.:　06-6388-4512
Presiding Priest: David Mizuguchi (Masaaki)
E-mail:　osaka-orthodox@sutv.zaq.ne.jp
Home page:http://www.sutv.zaq.ne.jp/osaka-orthodox　

■Kobe Dormition of the Theotokos Church

1873 - Mission commenced by Fr. Petr Sasagawa
1913 - A prayer house set up in Kobe city, Hirano Shimo Gion-cho
1920's - Russian refugees build a 2-storied church on Toa-road, Kagoike Nozaki-dori.
1952 - The present Kobe Dormition of the Theotokos Church constructed.

■Services:
Every Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:00 AM
Every Saturday Vigil 6:00 PM
Services conducted in Japanese and Slavonic

■Inquiries:
Address: 1-4-11,Yamamoto-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken
Tel./Fax: 078-221-4925
Presiding Priest: Vasilii Sakai (Mitsuru)

■Tokushima Descent of the Holy Spirit Church

　In 1877 (Meiji 10) Pavel Nakakoji (Seiichiro) was the first Orthodox to be dispatched to Tokushima. One Symeon Ogawa (Ichiro), a native of Tokushima, after receiving baptism on January 23, 1878 (Meiji 11) from Fr. Iakov Takaya of Osaka, became a junior catechist in 1882 (Meiji 14) and commenced his work, centered around Wakimachi. Dr. Miyai, together with Morita Rinzo and seven others、received baptism from Fr. Nikita Mori and went to aid the catechists in Ehara-mura, Soezan。 As a result, by the beginning of the Showa Period (1926), the faithful of Waki-machi, exceeded those in Tokushima, numbering more then 200 members. In 1903 (Meiji 36) , since a camp for the prisoners of the Russo-Japanese War was established in Marugame, Fr. Foma Maki of Takashima departed there.
Fr. Pavel Kakehashi served from 1916 to 1945 (Taisho 5 - Showa 20), but these years saw rather the destruction of many churches in the fires of war. The mission of the church revived from 1973 (Showa 48), when Fr. Grigorii Ogawa became the presiding priest. In 1980 (Showa 55) the present Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit was erected.
The iconostas of our church, written by the famous Irina Yamashita (Rin) in 1892 (Meiji 25), was originally used in the Hamamatsu Church during the Meiji period. Afterwards, via Toyohashi and Nagoya, it came to Tokushima.

■Inquiries:
Address: 1-3-6, Nishi Shinhama-cho, Tokushima-shi, 770-8008
Tel.: 0886-62-0078
Presiding Priest:　Grigorii Ogawa (Tadashi)
E-mail: gregory@stannet.ne.jp
Home Page: http://www.stannet.ne.jp/orthodox/
　　

■Yanaihara (Okayama) Church

　The first Orthodox of Yanaihara was Kornilii Asano (Kyukichi), who received baptism in 1889 (Meiji 22). Soon, his family was also led receive baptism, forming the basis for a prayer house. In due time, its activity expanded as Watanabe, a catichist from Ishi-no-maki came here in Meiji 35. From Meiji to Taisho period, the propagation of the faith spread beyond Yanaihara to Okayama, Tsuyama, Aneo, Kazoyama, Tsurajima, Kojima.

Due to the move of the Osaka church in 1963 (Showa 38), our congregation inherited their old prayer house. The are a few icons by Yamashita Rin.

■Inquiries:
Address: 1883 Yanaihara, Funaho-cho, Asaguchigun, Okayama-ken
Tel.: 08-8662-0078（Tokushima Orthodox Church）
Presiding Priest: Grigorii Ogawa (Tadashi)

■Hitoyoshi Protection of the Theotokos Church

The first Orthodox of Hitoyoshi was Clement Kuramoto (Matazo), baptised in Osaka by Fr. Iakov Takaya in 1884 (Meiji 17). The same year, cathechist Masae Kosugi established the church in Tatemachi, the precursor of the Hitoyoshi church The Hitoyoshi Protection of the Theotokos Church moved to the present location in 1933 (Showa 7). From 1956 (Showa 31) the presiding priest of the church has been Fr. Sergei Touhei (Shigenobu).

■Inquiries:
Address: 287-1, Ganseiji-cho, Hitoyoshi-shi
Tel.: 09-6624-7680
Presiding Priest: Pavel Oikawa (Shin)
E-mail rxjkx321@ybb.ne.jp

■Access
From both the Mizobe Kagoshima Airport and Kumamoto Airport, it is 1.5 hrs. by car. Via the Kyushu highway, it is a few minutes from the Hitoyoshi IC. By car, it is also within minutes of the JR Hitoyoshi stop. (As for landmarks, look for the North gates of the Public Primary School, drive into the road on the left side and continue for some 150 meters.)

■Kagoshima Holy Apostle James Church

The first time Orthodoxy was preached in Kyushu dates to about (Meiji 6). After the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 (Meiji 10), ahead of the other Christian churches, the Kagoshima church was established in January, 1878 (Meiji 11). The first priest was the disciple of St. Nikolay, Fr. Iakov Takai (Juuji). During the Meiji period the church was lost to fire twice, but by the efforts of all the faithful it was rebuilt both times. At the end of World War II, it once again burned during a bombing raid. Undaunted, the faifhful headed by the priest, Fr. Ooki、erected the present church. In 1957, Archbishop Irinei of Japan blessed the new edifice. This land has been ravaged by the various natural disasters like the Matsushima eruption, by earthquakes and by typhoons, but the Orthodox faith is handed down to this day.

■Inquiries:
Address: 12-39, Hirano-cho, Kagoshima-shi, 892-0848
Tel./Fax: 09-9223-7632
Presiding Priest: Pavel Oikawa (Shin)
Tel.: 09-6624-7680 (Hitoyoshi Church)
E-mail rxjkx321@ybb.ne.jp

■Access
The present church, 2 km from the Nishi-Kagoshima station in the downtown area of Kagoshima city, some 15 min. walk from the Tenbunkan, is blessed with a favorable location. By car, take the 3 National Road, and exit at the Hirata Bridge.

■Kumamoto Church

The church in Kumamoto dates to 1879 (Meiji 12). In 1881 (Meiji 14) a prayer house (first, a lecture hall) was established, later moved to the Mizumichi-cho in the inner city, and in 1926 (Taisho 15) ? to the its present location in Shinyashiki-cho. After being lost to fire in the bombings of WWII, through the efforts of the faithful, Fr. Katsuhira and catechist Nagashima Shinji (later, Mitropolitan Feodosii of Japan), the present church was consecrated in May of 1961 (Showa 36).

■Inquiries:
Address: 1-18-16 Shinyashiki-cho, Kumamoto-shi
Tel.: 09-6624-7680 (Hitoyoshi Church)
Presiding Priest: Pavel Oikawa (Shin)
E-mail rxjkx321@ybb.ne.jp

■Access:
40 by car from the Kumamoto Airport. From the Kumamoto IC of the Kyushu Highway, approximately 30 minutes by car. From the JR Kumamoto stop ? some 10 minutes. (Landmarks: look for the Daiei building, NTT Hospital and the Tokutomi Commemorative Hall)

●Local Congregations

■Kanazawa Congregation
          Inquiries to the Nagoya Church, Fr. Matsushima

■Wakayama Congregation
           Inquiries to the Tokushima Church, Fr. Ogawa

■Takamatsu Congregation
           Inquiries to the Tokushima Church, Fr. Ogawa

■Hiroshima Congregation
           Inquiries to the Osaka Church, Fr. Mizuguchi

■Kitakyushu Congregation
        Inquiries to the Kobe Church Fr. Sakai

■Miyazaki Congregation
           Inquiries to the Hitoyoshi Church Fr. Oikawa