Bishop Daniel of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Kurils comes to Japan on his first official visit

The ruling bishop of the easternmost diocese of our Church visited Japan at the invitation of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church. His trip was planned to coincide with the visit to Japan by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bishop Daniel arrived in Hokkaido together with a group of officials from the Sakhalin regional administration. In Hakodat the delegation visited the Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection erected on the spot where the first Orthodox church to be built in Japan used to stand. The old church was built by St. Nicholas of Japan. After this visit the delegation flew out to Tokyo.

‘I knew that President Putin was to meet with the Japanese prime minister and that their talk would be difficult’, Bishop Daniel narrated. ‘We all looked forward to this meeting. I thought it would be good if we together with Orthodox Japanese say a prayer for peace in the world. On the day when the president came to Japan, we celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Nikolay-do Cathedral in Tokyo together with Metropolitan Daniel of Tokyo and All Japan and Bishop Seraphim of Sendai.

‘There were very many people in the cathedral. I delivered a sermon, and Metropolitan Daniel addressed the congregation. The service was conducted in both Japanese and Slavonic. There are many Russian people living in Tokyo, but most of the cathedral parishioners are Japanese.

‘The people there are very pious. They observe Orthodox traditions and appreciate Russian spiritual and cultural tradition. I have so many impressions and I thank God that He helped me to make this trip.

‘The Japanese are also well aware that it is not politics that feeds people, the less so non-constructive politics. Sakhalin for Japan is first of all a source of energy supply, which our southern neighbor need so much. We have rich fields of oil and gas so much needed not only by Japan, but also China and Korea. There are Japanese oil-producing companies working at the Sakhalin shelf. In Korsakov the Japanese will build the first gaseous condensate plant in Russia, from which gas will be taken by trankers to Japan. We should establish serious business cooperation. But if political claims are put in the forefront, then it will inevitably affect the prospects for mutually beneficial economic relations between our two countries. For us as Orthodox the most important thing is to maintain spiritual communion and I believe that relations between the Orthodox people in Russia and the Orthodox people in Japan should be deepened’.

From the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk diocesan press service