October 27, 2025, it is indicative that the first Japanese convert to Orthodoxy and the first Orthodox Christian priest from among the Japanese people was a samurai. It is likewise also indicative that in the epoch when Japanese society was doing away with the caste of the samurai in the name of modernization, the first who would embrace Orthodox Christianity would be a small number of samurai. They achieved in this way the fulfillment of their former creed in the fullest and most profound way.
In the nineteenth century, the samurai were a caste of warriors with a history nearly a thousand years, and, although they made up no more than ten percent of the entire population, they nevertheless constituted the quintessence of Japanese culture. Standing at the base of the pyramid in the complex Japanese hierarchy, the samurai, while not nobility, were still the spiritual, cultural, and military elite of their world. They were imperial administrators, teachers of wisdom, the sciences and arts, painters, calligraphers, musicians, aesthetes, writers, tutors, masters of the tea art, and most especially-above every other occupation, work or talent— the samurai were the elite warriors, whose duty was to sacrifice themselves even unto death for their lord (shogun), or even for their emperor, who was considered to be of divine origin.
Although today the samurai no longer exist, Japanese culture still preserves the powerful imprint of their heritage. Their philosophy of life, or’the way of the warrior’ (bushido), which cultivates honor, dauntless bravery and personal loyalty as though due to a lord, makes up part of the spiritual DNA of this people. The word ‘samurai’ means ‘to serve’, and the samurai were therefore ‘servants’ par excellence, at whatever price, even unto death. In the way of the warrior’, there is no place for fear or dishonor, and, as in every society of warriors, the greatest glory was a noble death on the field of battle, in service to your lord.
But God wanted the samurai to be warriors on a different field of battle, the true field of battle, the cruelest and most unmerciful — the spiritual field of battle. Precisely for this reason, it is no mere happenstance that the first Orthodox priests and monks from among the Japanese people came from the samurai, from among those samurai who, enlightened by God, understood Who their true Lord and Emperor is, but also who the true enemy is, and to Whom it is meet to offer service.
At the midpoint of the nineteenth century, Japan underwent some major transformations. It was going through a transition toward modernization under European and American influence and was adopting the primary elements of western civilization- capitalism, cultural uniformity, abandonment of traditions, use of firearms, the decadence of morals. In this process, Japan became the scene for many internal conflicts and civil wars between traditionalists and progressives. The principal beneficiaries of these transformations in Japanese culture were, however, western business tycoons and their Japanese affliates. Naturally, the Japanese populace, especially the traditionalist group, hated the Europeans and wanted to expel them from their land. Into the sphere of this hatred also entered Christianity, which was considered to be a product of western culture, too. Among the enemies of the Japanese people was numbered also the Russian Orthodox, whose apostolate in this part of the world was barely beginning, and was not looked upon with a favorable eye.
The First Disciple
Amid such a context, a young man from the last generation of the samurai discovered Orthodoxy in a paradoxical way… The young man was Takuma Sawabe, and he was born in 1833, in the Kochi region. His name initially was Yamanoto Kazuma, but a youthful escapade obliged him to change it. In the year 1857, he, together with a cousin, began instruction in Ken-do (lit. the way of the sword’), the famous martial art and philosophy of life of the samurai. Having fallen into the passion of drunkenness, and out of money, Yamanoto felt the need to sell two golden watches he had stolen from his cousin, but he was caught and, in order to wash away the shame, he was obliged to commit harakiri, according to samurai tradition. Instead, the young man fled to Hakodate, in order to escape with his life, but also out of the desire to be of service to the creed of his caste through a more glorious death. In Hakodate, he married the daughter of a Shinto priest, a certain Sawabe, and adopted the name of the girls family to cover his tracks. Under his new identity, desiring to wash away his former shame, Takuma led a group of elite fighters, Japanese nationalist fanatics, who honored the emperor and fought for the expulsion of foreigners. The Russian Consulate in Hakodate thus became one of the targets of their terrorist plans. Takuma hated Christianity, which he clumped together with the other foreign influences upon his land, and he wanted to kill its preachers. His pretext for frequently visiting the Consulate was the lectures on Japanese swordsmanship which were being given for the Russian officers. He happened to find out about the missionary intentions of the priest of the Consulate, Hieromonk Nikolai Katsakin, who was to become the Enlightener of Japan.
One night in 1865, armed with a sword, Takuma stole into the Consulate to attack Father Nikolai. He wanted to kill him before he could begin his work of preaching. With this evil intention, the samurai stepped threateningly toward him. ‘What business has this man in the country of the samurais, so as to preach a strange faith? he thought to himself… And if words will not convince him, he will need to be convinced in another way. Either he leaves Japan, or he is killed.’ Father Nikolai, for his part, could not put up much of a defense. He had no time. Here, now, before him, stood this proud samurai, a pagan, servitor of the oldest Shinto temple in the city, with a cold and threatening countenance. He was aware that the situation required a rapid resolution, because the samurai does not have patience.
Father Nikolai had been preparing himself seven years for a confrontation like this; he had studied thoroughly the Japanese culture and mentality. Praying the whole time to the Theotokos —not for his own life, as much as for her to enlighten this soul so full of zeal—Fr. Nikolai found the strength to hold a calm discussion with the enraged man before him who meant to deal death to him. “Why are you upset with me?’ Fr. Nikolai asked Sawabe.
‘You, all of you foreigners, must die! You have come here to spy on us and usurp our land, to destroy the teaching of our ancestors. You do evil to Japan through your preaching’, responded Sawabe.
‘But do you know what I preach?’
‘No!’ responded the samurai.
“Then how can you judge, how can you condemn something you know nothing about? You would not defame what you do not understand, would you? First, listen to me, then judge! If you consider that what I teach is evil, kill me!’
In the name of the honor by which he was bound, Takuma accepted for Fr. Nikolai to tell him in short what the Christian faith teaches. The young priest began to speak. As word followed word, the hatred of the samurai began to be dispelled. The warrior became thoughtful, and he listened with seriousness to the words of the priest. Fr. Nikolai challenged him and provoked his interest. Athirst for true knowledge, the Japanese man begged the priest to speak again the next day, and then a third day, to tell him more about this strange teaching.
The Mystery of Being Born Again
See how St. Nikolai of Japan himself tells of this event:
‘Beginning the second day, I began to tell the samurai the holy history of the Old Testament. He took out paper and pen and began to write down steadily everything I was saying. My discourse was interrupted at nearly every word by objections which, in their turn, required further and further explanations. As the days passed, there were fewer and fewer objections, but Takuma continued to write down every word and every name with full attention and fascination. The mystery of a man’s rebirth into new life by the Hand of God was being unveiled before my eyes. After he had heard Fr. Nikolai and found out about the Orthodox Christian way of life, the samurai nationalist and fanatic, Shintoist adept, believed in Jesus Christ and became a catechumen.
Soon, a doctor friend, Sakai Tokurei, joined Sawabe, then two other friends, Urano and Suzuki, and so the group of catechumens increased. They themselves began to speak about Orthodox Christianity to their fellow Japanese, although, at that time, Japanese political circles were implementing a persecution of Christians, and conversion and preaching were absolutely forbidden, under penalty of death.
After three years of catechesis carried on in secret—by which Fr. Nikolai, as much as his catechumens, exposed themselves to great danger-in April 1868, Father baptized Sawabe and two of his friends, Sakai and Urano. The samurai received the name Paul, after the Holy Apostle Paul who, before he came to know Christ, had used his authority to persecute the Christian Church with much ferocity. The Baptism took place at the Russian Consulate, under strict secrecy, behind closed doors, well guarded by the Russian Christians. These three were the first Japanese to receive Orthodox Christianity. After their baptism, Paul and his friends continued to preach their new faith with redoubled zeal.
As the threat of imprisonment, and possibly even execution, for those who converted was increasing in Hakodate, Fr. Nikolai sent Paul and his friends to travel throughout other regions of Japan, in order to preach the Christian Faith, but also in order to put them in safety.
Many months later, Fr. Nikolai had yet to receive any news from them, and he was concerned for their lives, but finally he was overjoyed to discover that the three of them had preached the faith in Sendai, in the north of the Honshu region, and had won many souls. In time, the opposition to Christianity began to settle down more, and now Fr. Nikolai began to explore the terrain for a possible apostolate in Tokyo.
He sent Paul to Tokyo to analyze the situation in regards to a mission in that region and to take counsel concerning the potentiality of such a step. Paul’s report was one full of optimism, in which he encouraged Fr. Nikolai to come to Tokyo as soon as possible. Thus, at the end of January, 1871, Fr. Nikolai arrived in Tokyo, where he established his residence.
Opposition to Christianity on the local level was still strong. In February, 1872, Paul Sawabe and many of his friends in Christ, together with their families, were arrested by the local police of Sendai. The officials were amazed that, even down to the children, they knew how to answer their questions about the Christian faith, and they proved steadfast in their conviction. Even though many were not yet baptized, no one denied Christ, in spite of the threats and intimidation.
On July 12, 1875, Fr. Nikolai decided that he needed native Japanese clergy, and he chose Paul Sawabe as the first priest, and John Sakai as deacon. A month later, Bishop Pavel of Eastern Siberia would perform the ordination.
Fr. Paul Sawabe would serve till his death the true Emperor and Lord, preaching Him among his people. His church community grew in the following decades and brought forth abundant fruits. He passed to the Lord in 1913, one year after the blessed repose of his Father and Bishop, St. Nikolai of Japan.
Certainly, the ever-memorable Fr. Paul Sawabe was not the only samurai convert to Orthodoxy. He was only the first; following him were others who, coming to understand the ultimate meaning of warfare and service, followed the true Lord and were His servants (samurai) even unto death.
