Holy Orthodox Church of Japan

Doctrines		On all major issues the Holy Orthodox Church of Japan is in agreement with other Eastern Orthodox Churches. (See Eastern Orthodoxy.)
History		In 1853 Russia established its first diplomatic mission in Japan. The chaplain of the Russian embassy, Nikolay Kasatkin, came to devote himself to missionary work among the Japanese. His first convert was a Buddhist monk, Paul Savabe, who was later ordained as an Orthodox priest. In 1880, Kasatkin was made a bishop, and under his leadership the Church grew rapidly. The Church has had to cope with periods of isolation and political struggle, particularly during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 and the two world wars. Between 1945 and 1970 the Church was placed under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America. In 1970 it was made autonomous by the patriarchate of Moscow.
Symbols		Festal icons, Christ as Pantocrator, Mary as Theotokos. (See Eastern Orthodoxy.)
Adherents		Today the church has 24,783 members (Europa Publications Limited 1995, 1:1686).
Headquarters/ Main Centre		Holy Resurrection Cathedral, 4-1-3 Surugadai Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101.