Holy Resurrection Cathedral and Yushima Seido in Ochanomizu
1. Today's Walking Course
I came to Ochanomizu. Today, I will go to Russian and Chinese traditional architectures in this area.
2. Today's Photographies
Now I am on Hijiri-bridge close to Ochanomizu Station. This place is very good to take pictures.
First, I will go to Holy Resurrection Cathedral, Russian Orthodox Church. We usually call this church “Nikolai-do”.
This church was built in 1891 by Russian Christian, St. Nikolai. He came to Japan and made effort to advocate Orthodox Christianity.
This church is one of my favorite architectures in Tokyo.
Next, I will go to Yushima Seido. This is Yushima Seido’s walls. It looks very unique.
I guess this wall is made from plaster and roof tiles.
This is the entrance.
Through the entrance, the inside is so tranquil.
The statue is Confucius and this place is a shrine to worship at him. He was born in 552 B.C. in China and became the founder of Confucianism.
I really love black gates and buildings here.
Finally, I came to Shohei-Bridge to see Yushima Seido. Unfortunately, I cannot see Yushima Seido on this bridge. However, the view with a train is very nice.
3. History
Yushima Seido was built in 1690. At that time, Tokugawa dynasty actively encouraged Confucianism because the idea would stabilize the existing social structure. Hiroshige Utagawa painted the view from Shohei-Bridge in the 19th century as below. There are walls of Yushima Seido in the right side of this picture.
On the other hand, Tokugawa dynasty prohibited foreign religions including Christianity because foreign religions could make the social system unstable.
After the collapse of Tokugawa dynasty in 1867, new Japanese government actively encouraged Western technologies and culture to modernize Japan. As a result, The ban of Christianity was lifted and Holy Resurrection Cathedral was also allowed to be built in 1891.
4. Information
・Closest stations to Holy Resurrection Cathedral and Yushima Seido are Ochanomizu Station, JR Chuo Line, JR Sobu Chuo Line and Marunouchi Line.
