Part 1

The Lord destined me to stay for one year (1897-1898) as a missionary in Japan, which has now boldly and treacherously declared war on us. During this time, I had to see, hear, think, and say a lot there, which I regularly wrote down in my diary at that time. And about Japan itself and its population, a certain idea was formed. I think that now all this will be of some interest to any Russian who is interested in knowing what kind of people they have to deal with. That is why I decided to publish excerpts from my very voluminous missionary diary (600-700 printed pages) in the Diocesan Gazette. There was so much to do at the mission that if you got up from 6 o'clock in the morning, only no earlier than 12 o'clock at night, you could give yourself peace, and so it was almost from day to day. Therefore, it is understandable that the diary had the character of hastily sketched notes before going to bed. Even now, due to a positive lack of time, there is no way to understand this material. Therefore, I ask you not to suspect negligence, if someone is dissatisfied with the external incompleteness. We did not pursue this, and now we are not particularly concerned about it. In terms of its content, our diary is a continuation of our book "The Missionary Path to Japan". (Those interested can get it in Tuzov's store for 50 kopecks.) And so, with God's help, we approach.

Ufa, March 11, 1904 Rector of the Ufa Theological Seminary Archimandrite Andronik

* * *

We arrived in Yokohama on the night of December 26, 97 - January 7, 98, and in the morning after breakfast by boat we crossed to the shore, at the customs we were detained for a short time, but for a very long time we had to check in our luggage at the railway station: the Japanese are very digging and do everything slowly. We had to wait 15 minutes for the train. During this time, I looked with curiosity at the Japanese in their costumes and with their manners and customs. Their clothing, generally called kimono, consists of two robes: short to the knees at the top, with short but wide sleeves, some of which are adapted for a very large pocket, its hems do not converge, but are only tied with a thick silk cord, under the upper one you can see the lower kimono long - to the ground, the hems cover one another, but the hem is so narrow that the Japanese do not move his legs wide, but only moves them, the neck is completely and deeply open, there are no scarves, and, nevertheless, no throat diseases are noticeable among the Japanese. The head is also mostly open, the women have a fanciful hairstyle to infinity, others in the form of a fluffy high comb; probably a lot of work and time is required for this; It turns out that women, in order not to knock off such a hairstyle in their sleep, put a special roller on legs under their heads; It is probably difficult to sleep peacefully on such a device.

The Japanese (with the exception of a few who dress in the European way) do not wear boots at all, they put on short socks, mostly white, and the whiteness does not bear any traces of dirt, and then they put on a special wooden bench, fastening it by the lace between the thumb and index toe to the foot, and so they walk.

With their wooden legs, the Japanese knock terribly - chirp: it is very unpleasant from unfamiliarity. At the entrance to the house, they take it off, and there they sit only in socks on the floor, covered with clean mats of special grass; Therefore, in Japanese homes and in general among the Japanese, there is amazing cleanliness and neatness. And in general, the Japanese do everything as if for an exhibition: whether he makes a wooden fence or a stone house or the most elegant thing, he will apply the same diligence and cleanliness to everything and will do everything as for show, as in a picture. The houses are all clean and tidy, wooden, and all small one-story, with a few exceptions of European houses. The Japanese, of course, also looked at us, but not at all wildly and not intently: one can see an extraordinary people's self-restraint and at the same time a certain self-knowledge, a consciousness of their own dignity. Why, they have something to be pleased with, for they are a very developed and active people; even before the open entry of Europeans into Japan, there were already small steamers of Japanese invention; In general, any productivity here is very developed and exclusively Japanese. The Japanese language is very flexible and artistic, developed; Japanese writing is rich and meaningful. And in general, they have created for themselves a special culture and life, their own special way of life and customs. And when they met the Europeans, they quickly adopted their culture: as if this was all they lacked. Of course, as is characteristic of Oriental peoples with a fervent fantasy that prevents them from dwelling on anything thoroughly, the Japanese borrow everything that is foreign purely externally, imitatively; but it cannot be otherwise at first: after all, they perceive a culture that is alien and in a shell that is not at all similar to their character, it is alien to them, and therefore can at first be assimilated only externally, until the people become familiar with everything borrowed – then everything will go deeper; After all, Japanese life is very special.

An hour and a half later we were in Tokyo; I had to get on the eastern jinrikisha, that is, on a man-cart; of course, at first it is wild, but then you go wow, consoling yourself with the thought that you are not the first, not the last, and that in fact we ride on each other in life, as Fr. A. S-y put it on the same occasion. The city is very large and almost entirely Japanese; it is almost impossible to build large buildings here, as earthquakes are frequent; In the last earthquake two years ago, many buildings were destroyed, and our Orthodox cathedral was also slightly damaged – it cracked and swayed from the strong swing of the cross on the bell tower (so what an earthquake it was!). From a distance I saw our cathedral, which I knew from photographs; my head involuntarily bared, and I crossed myself with faith, asking God's blessing for this new serious work of preaching about Him among His creatures and children who do not lead Him. Jinrikisha asked where to take it; I said, "Nikora," and he understood; here everyone knows Sarugadai under the name of "Nicholas", and everyone also knows him himself; And how not to know. And some "Nikora" call our entire missionary place and household, and the bishop is considered the owner of this "Nikora". We found His Grace Nicholas very cheerful and amiable downstairs in the office. As he later said, he was cheerful because two Christian women had just told him that it was possible to buy land in the neighborhood with buildings for orphaned Christian families. His Grace Nicholas was very happy to see us and, due to his generally lively character, immediately began to talk to us. For some reason I seemed to him to resemble a Catholic priest – so he said and added: "Then you will be a good missionary"; To which, of course, I could only respond to myself with a good and sincere wish. Immediately he placed us in our cells, and there was some dispute between him and Father A. S., since His Grace took the worst apartment downstairs for himself, and gave us two beautiful and large rooms with all the furnishings, comfortable and very clean; But Vladyka said that he had already got used to this apartment, that he would die there. Indeed, he once lived in Father A.S.'s present apartment, but one of the missionaries who was then demanded this apartment, and Vladyka calmly gave it up. That is why now he says that once he has already made an attempt to live in these rooms, but it was unsuccessful.

At once he began to speak of business. First, he said, it was necessary to study the language in order to speak well, and Father A. S. had to begin to study Chinese signs thoroughly, since he could already speak Japanese, as he had previously been here for almost two years.

For this, he says, it is possible to have two teachers at once – for the morning and for the evening; Yes, to study all this so that later to write in Japanese in magazines. In the meantime, he said, we will live together at the mission in Tokyo. He immediately led us around the entire mission, took us to church, to the library, and so on, and all this very quickly – on the run. In general, Vladyka is very lively, as if he were still a very young man, zealous and energetic, about 27-30 years old, while he is already 62 years old; And in appearance he gives the impression of being very young, although he says that he has only 10 years left to live, if everything goes as usual, that is, if he does not kill or die a premature death, and so on. "Now I leave the whole task of the mission to you, and I have to deal with the translation of the Holy Scriptures and the divine services: after all, there is almost nothing yet, and this is my direct business, for someone else will have to stay in Japan for so many years (37)." Now he is translating the Gospel, and this is probably the third time or more: "It is necessary to translate thoroughly and correctly once for all, and therefore it is necessary to be very careful in the choice of signs and words, especially when it comes to concepts and terms." And they sit all day long at this work together: His Grace himself and the Japanese Nakai, although the latter does not understand Russian, Greek, or English, but he is very learned in the Japanese sense, that is, in Chinese.

Vladyka himself manages the entire mission household, delves into everything, knows everything; even in the library he himself manages and keeps records; in the church he himself showed everything to the smallest detail. They went to the seminary, to the catechetical school, to the women's school, and there he knew everyone. And how he has enough strength and time for everything! He is all embodied energy and a lively interest in everything. And he speaks about everything vividly with enthusiasm, as if it were his own cause, and the main thing is that his word and view of everything are filled with the most lively integral faith in the cause and in the Orthodox Church as the only true guardian of the gift of Christ's Gospel. We, says Vladyka, are the servants of the Mother Churches, the only true one, and it is our sacred duty to loudly and unceasingly proclaim the truth of Christ. And what a pity that all these corrupt Christian communities are shouting about Christ, while the mother of all, the Orthodox Church, is silent. Everywhere there is an interest in religion, all those who do not know God are looking for Him, thirsting for the true word of faith in God, and the mother of all mankind seems to be asleep and does not pay any attention to anything. The sheep run around looking for a shepherd, but he does not respond. Yes, it really is; but here is the evidence of the truth of his words. He himself alone in Japan laid a solid foundation for Orthodoxy, and now, during the 37 years of his stay here, there are already up to 25 thousand Christians under the leadership of exclusively Japanese priests and catechists. Is this a possible thing for a person? But the word of Christ is true: for man this is impossible, but for God all things are possible. Indeed, only He Himself showed in this the truth of our cause of Orthodoxy and the power of His Holy Church. And Christianity among our Orthodox Japanese is not only in name, but in reality: the morals here, amidst the great immorality of the people, are carefully preserved by the believers themselves, and in this way a whole church life will gradually be created, as was the case in our ancient Russia, when the ecclesiastical principle penetrated deeply and seriously into all aspects of life. And Vladyka has very broad assumptions and aspirations in this regard. He firmly believes in his Orthodox cause as the only work of God among all other Christian communities. He asserts that this is how it should be, so that Orthodoxy will eventually triumph over everyone: this is necessary, and therefore it must be, and it must be so, and it will be so (he directly said that he does not like the word "I can't"). In these assumptions, and partly with the aim of showing at once the height of Orthodoxy by the involuntary conversion of even the external gaze, he built a large Orthodox cathedral in the most prominent place in Tokyo, and moreover in a very significant place – on Sarugadai, near and in view of the imperial palaces.

And indeed, our cathedral seems to rise above the whole city and adorns it with its grandeur, harmony and beauty. Unwittingly, he attracts the attention of everyone; it has now become a landmark of the whole city, and every Japanese strives to visit and marvel at this important creation of the well-known Nicholas in the Russian church.

The cathedral is in the form of a cross, very spacious, with a beautiful gilded high iconostasis for three altars; it is richly supplied with both the sacristy and all the utensils; All this, of course, is still a gift from the generous Russian hand. In the sacristy of the cathedral there is a reserve of everything for numerous (in the future) Japanese churches. The Japanese go to the cathedral, bow before it (these are pagans), as if giving honor to the unknown but respected God, in Whose name one person works, so selflessly for the benefit of them, the Japanese, he created this shrine. Each of them will certainly put some kind of coin on the episcopal cathedra, even a copper one, and there are so many of them that His Grace wants to drain the bell. And the very buildings of the mission also attracted my wife on a grand scale and thoroughly: it is a pleasure and sublime to look at all this. Our mission kind of hovers above everything here. The seminary and the women's school are also built for a large number of students – the seminary for 120 people. The catechetical school is located at the mission, and students go to the seminary only for lessons. There are many students, only in catechetical schools: recent military events (the Sino-Japanese War) have completely drawn the interest of the Japanese away from the religious, as the non-Orthodox missions also declare in their reports. The girls' school is run by old Anna-san, that is, the mistress, she has been in charge of it for 20 years and has completely devoted herself to the school; She receives a pittance – 5 yen a month (1 yen is 13 kopecks less than our ruble), but even that she spends almost exclusively on her children. A remarkably good old woman. The teachers and educators are already her pupils, and all are good religious and devoted to the cause; One does not even want to marry and refuses numerous suitors. The library building is designed so that in case of fire it is fireproof.