24/05/2026
Saint Nicholas of Japan → Orthodox Mission in Tokyo → Seminary → Kodokan Judo → Vasily Oshchepkov → SAMBO
Saint Nicholas of Japan stands as one of the most remarkable and unusual figures in the shared history of Russia and Japan — and, unexpectedly, in the historical origins of SAMBO.
In Japan, he became known as Nikorai, and to this day the great Orthodox cathedral in Tokyo is still widely called Nikolai-do.
Born Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin in 1836 in the Smolensk Province of the Russian Empire, he later entered monastic life after graduating from the theological academy and took the name Nicholas.
In 1861, at just 24–25 years of age, he was sent to Hakodate as a priest attached to the Russian Consulate. At that time, Japan had only just begun opening itself to the outside world after centuries of isolation during the Sakoku period. Christianity had only recently emerged from prohibition.
Rather than immediately beginning missionary work, Nicholas spent nearly seven to eight years studying the Japanese language, history, Buddhism, Shinto traditions, and the deeper character and mindset of the Japanese people.
Contemporaries wrote that he often understood Japanese culture better than many local intellectuals of his time.
Only then did he begin his mission — respectfully, patiently, and without pressure.
One of his earliest and most remarkable converts was Takuma Sawabe, a former samurai who initially approached Nicholas with hostility, yet later became one of the first Japanese Orthodox priests.
By the end of the 19th century, Japan already had approximately 18,000–19,000 Orthodox believers, along with schools, seminaries, libraries, and parishes established across the country.
Saint Nicholas:
* translated the New Testament and liturgical texts into Japanese;
* created a structured system for training Japanese clergy;
* introduced Orthodox church singing in the Japanese language;
* effectively laid the foundation of the Japanese Orthodox Church.
The greatest symbol of his life’s work became Nikolai-do in Tokyo, completed in 1891 — a landmark still recognized by many Japanese by his name alone.
After his death in Tokyo in 1912, he was canonized in 1970 and given the title:
“Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan.”
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Saint Nicholas of Japan and Vasily Oshchepkov — The Unexpected Bridge to SAMBO
Saint Nicholas of Japan is directly connected to Vasily Sergeyevich Oshchepkov, one of the founding fathers of SAMBO.
In many ways, it was through Father Nicholas’s Orthodox Mission that the Japanese chapter of Oshchepkov’s life began.
Following the Russo-Japanese War, young Vasily Oshchepkov, an orphan from Sakhalin, came under the care of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Japan.
In 1907, he was sent to study at the Orthodox Seminary in Tokyo, founded by Saint Nicholas of Japan.
This was far more than a religious school — it was a place of serious intellectual and cultural education, where students studied Japanese language, discipline, philosophy, and deep respect for Japanese traditions.
Nicholas himself placed enormous emphasis on raising Russian boys to understand and respect Japanese culture.
Historical recollections suggest that Saint Nicholas noticed Oshchepkov’s calm character, discipline, and unusual ability to adapt naturally to Japanese society. Among fellow Russian seminarians, Oshchepkov was even considered “too Japanese.”
It was at this seminary that Judo training became part of the educational environment.
Through the seminary’s teachers and connections, young Oshchepkov received a recommendation to enter the legendary Kodokan, founded by Jigoro Kano.
There, in 1913, Oshchepkov became the first Russian to earn a 1st Dan in Judo, and later one of the earliest Europeans to receive a 2nd Dan.
These were not simply martial arts achievements.
He later carried this knowledge back to the Soviet Union, where the technical foundations of SAMBO were shaped through the integration of Judo principles with wrestling traditions of many peoples of the USSR.
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A Historical Chain That Led to SAMBO
Seen through the lens of martial arts history, the connection forms an extraordinary chain:
Saint Nicholas of Japan → Orthodox Mission in Tokyo → Seminary → Kodokan Judo → Vasily Oshchepkov → SAMBO
Without the mission established by Saint Nicholas of Japan, Oshchepkov’s path to Japan — and ultimately to Kodokan — might never have happened.
For the world of SAMBO, this represents a powerful historical and spiritual line:
A bridge between Orthodox mission work in Japan and the birth of one of the world’s most distinctive martial arts systems.
There is also one remarkable and lesser-known detail.
Saint Nicholas of Japan died in February 1912 — just one year before Vasily Oshchepkov earned his first Dan at Kodokan.
They were contemporaries.
And Nicholas lived long enough to witness how a simple orphaned Russian boy from Sakhalin was growing into a disciplined student of Japan — and eventually into one of the men who would help shape the future of SAMBO.
International SAMBO Federation - FIAS
