The whole life and all the strength of St. Nicholas of Japan was devoted to preaching the Gospel, sowing the Word of God in the Land of the Rising Sun. He devoted more than half a century to these works, and they did not go to waste. Naganawa Mitsuo writes: “He left to his descendants a cathedral, 8 temples, 175 churches, 276 parishes, raised one bishop, 34 priests, 8 deacons, 115 preachers. The total number of Orthodox believers reached 34,110 people, not counting the 8,170 people who had died earlier... In his personal possession, he left only a few items of a rather worn-out wardrobe." Archpriest I. Vostorgov, who visited Japan, wrote: “ There was no person in Japan, after the emperor, who would enjoy such fame in the country. In the capital of Japan, there was no need to ask where the Russian Orthodox mission was; it was enough to say one word “Nicholas,” and literally every rickshaw puller immediately knew where the mission’s guest needed to be taken. And the Orthodox church was called “Nikolai”, and the place of mission was also “Nikolai”, even Orthodoxy itself was called by the name “Nikolai”. Traveling around the country in the clothes of a Russian priest, we always and everywhere met kind eyes, and in the words of greetings and conversations about us, we caught with our ears, among the incomprehensible words and expressions of an unfamiliar language, one familiar and dear one: “Nikolai” ... " St. Nicholas devoted his entire life to the work of preaching - it was no coincidence that he compared Japan with his “bride.” More than once he recalled the words spoken to him when Metropolitan Isidore presented him with the episcopal staff: “For the rest of your life, serve you in the task you have undertaken, and do not allow another to have your crown.” The famous orientalist D.M. Later, who knew the saint closely, recalls: “Along with his gentleness, he was an iron man who knew no obstacles, a practical mind and an administrator who knew how to find a way out of any difficult situation. Along with his courtesy, he had the ability to be icy, inflexible and harsh with people whom he found necessary to educate with measures of severity, to punish or stop for something. Along with his sociability, he had a very great reserve, acquired through long experience and bitter trials, and it took a lot of time and effort to earn his trust and frankness. Along with some childish naivety of a cheerful interlocutor, he had the breadth of ideals of a great statesman’s mind, endless love for the Motherland, suffering with its suffering and torment with its torment... Broad and holy ideals, iron will and inexhaustible diligence - this is the essence of Archbishop Nicholas.” Source: Contents: Life of St. Nicholas of JapanPrefaceCallingHakodateTokyoTranslationWarLast years of life and death Extracts from the diaries of St. Nicholas of Japan Service to St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan Literature