On Friday in one of the central areas of the Japanese capital - Meguro - at the big gathering of people has been made a rank of consecration of Russian orthodox temple, the correspondent of RIA Novosti news agency transmits.
The rank of consecration and Divine liturgy were headed by the chairman of Department of external church communications of the Moscow Patriarchy metropolitan Smolenskoy and Kaliningrad Kirill. Among guests of honour there was the Head of the Japanese Orthodox Church metropolitan Daniel and the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Tokyo Michael Belyj.
Russian Orthodox temple in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky built on land bequeathed Moscow Patriarchate emigrantkoy Susannoy Ivanovnoy Krivtsovoy with a condition to the temple there after the fall of Soviet power.
As reported in an interview with RIA "Novosti" the prior farmstead Moscow Patriarchate in Japan Protopresbyter Nicholas (Kotsyuban), the cost of the entire project amounted to about 120 million yen (about 1 million U.S. dollars). Part of the necessary funds has been allocated to the Moscow Patriarchate, and some collected by Russian believers.
"With your help and God, we completed the construction on time", - said the father, Nikolai.
All of the interior design temple, including the icon and an icon, brought from Russia, and some subjects - from the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
Japan officially opened to Christianity, after centuries of isolation, with only 1870 - ies, and there immediately poured wave of Catholic and Protestant priests. Russian Orthodox church sent a total of one priest - ieromonaha (later archbishop) Nicholas (Kasatkin), which, however, managed to draw in tens of thousands of Japanese Orthodoxy.
Ravnoapostolnogo diligence St. Nicholas in Tokyo was built Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, who received popularly known as "Nikoray-up to" (Nicholas Cathedral). He became not only the Japanese center of Orthodoxy, but also an important historical and cultural monument, a symbol of spiritual ties Japan and Russia.
Orthodoxy in Japan there (organizationally) simultaneously and Russian, and Japanese. In parallel with "Nikoray-up to" act farmstead Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate, which had no right missionary activity. At the farmstead with post-time Russian emigrants came from Harbin, and those who moved to Japan immediately after the revolution, and until recently went believers from the Russian, Greek and some other embassies.
With the emergence of Russian Orthodox church of St.. Alexander Nevsky activities farmstead moved to a new qualitative level