Pretty oft I was on foreign business trips. Business trip is not the same, as tourist journey, it is a job either. Usu-ally I don't have a lot of free time and all impressions I get on the way, in passing. But everywhere, where I arrive, I try to visit orthodox church: in Germany, in England, in Italy, in the USA . . . And now God let me come to Japan. Before the trip I asked my friend Japan scientist: "Can you teach me, how to ask the way to orthodox church?" "You just have to say - Nikorai-do!" - "As Nikorai?" - "Nikorai-do is the saint Niko-lai of Japan. He is so respected in Japan, that people call the Resurrection Christy church in his honor".
And it was so. In every country, when you begin to ex-plain, that you need just orthodox church, you will be sent in many different directions. There are a lot of different Chris-tian confessions and nobody investigate interconfessional de-tails: they can direct you to protestants, to Catholics or to masons. But in this situation you just have to say fairy "Nikorai-do" and there were no questions more. Young affable porter checked in one guidebook, then in another, then in Internet. In several minutes he circled with red pencil one of the metro stations, he also explained, where we have to trans-fer to another train.
And now I am visiting equal with the apostles Nikolai Ja-pan saint. That amazing saint brought Orthodoxy to the coun-try, that long and cruel pursue Christian faith. A lot of catholic and protestant missioners died there as martyrs. But St. Nikolai came over with the best weapons: patience and love. The whole 7 years he studied Japanese language, culture, religion and history. He liked this county and it's people. He became the first Christian missioner, that was allowed to build the cathedral in the center of the capital of Japan. Modern orthodox Christians in Japan are offspring's of the people, who came to this cathedral hundred years ago.
In our days the look of Resurrection Christy cathedral is not the same, as it was originally build. High bell tower fall from the earthquake 1928. By downfall it broke the dome. The church was reconstruct, rebuild and got more Byzantine look.
Twice I took part in evening vesper. I listened how the familiar Gospel and liturgical prayers words sound in Japa-nese. The cathedral was closed and the service took place in the St. Nikolai chapel, located not far from it. But at my re-quest the church was opened and I could kiss the relicts of saint. And twice I was happy to get blessing from his eminence Daniil, Japan metropolitan. I found out, that the priest of this cathedral Father Nikolai graduated from St-Petersburg Ec-clesiastical Academy and we have common acquaints.
Aleksander CHEKODANOV, St-Petersburg - Tokyo