Tokyo, October 28, 2025
Tokyo’s Resurrection Cathedral, 1891. Photo: Wikipedia
Four late 19th-century Orthodox church buildings in Tokyo were honored as a part of the Japanese cultural heritage last week.
On October 24, the Council for Cultural Affairs recommended to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology that four Meiji-era buildings on the grounds of the Japanese Orthodox church in Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo be designated as Important Cultural Properties, reports the Japanese Orthodox Church.
The four buildings are the former main building (current Metropolitan’s residence), the former residence (current seminary and living quarters), the former library (current church administrative building), and the former gatehouse (current Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral church office).
Photo: orthodoxjapan.jp
The current Metropolitan’s residence and current seminary buildings were constructed in 1875 on land that had been leased from the Japanese government in 1872 as property attached to the Russian legation. The Orthodox mission led by Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Nicholas demolished existing wooden structures and built two-story brick Western-style buildings.
These are “the oldest existing brick buildings in Tokyo and among the oldest in the nation, serving as models for early Orthodox church buildings. Though significantly rebuilt after damage from the Great Kanto Earthquake, the first-floor brick structure retains much of its original appearance,” according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs announcement.
The current church administrative building and current Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral church office were built sequentially after the completion of the Resurrection Cathedral in 1891.
The announcement concluded that “together with the already-designated Resurrection Cathedral, these buildings convey to the present day the spatial arrangement of the Japanese Orthodox Church grounds during the Meiji era and are of high historical value.”
The Meiji era refers to the reign of Emperor Meiji from 1868 to 1912.
Follow OrthoChristian on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, and MeWe!
