Kasatkin, Ivan (Nicolai)

(c. 1835–1912)

   Archbishop and Missionary.

   Kasatkin was an Orthodox monk who took the name of Nicolai. He volunteered to act as chaplain to the Russian Consulate at Hakodate in Hokkaido, Japan, and he landed in Japan in 1861. At that time Christianity was forbidden in Japan, and he did not baptise anyone until 1868. In 1869 he formed the Orthodox Mission in Russia and, when the laws against Christianity were repealed, he settled permanently in Tokyo. In 1880 he was consecrated Bishop and in 1906 A rchbishop of Tokyo. By the time of his death, he had made more than thirty thousand converts.

   R.H. Drummond, A History of Christianity in Japan (1971).