Metropolitan Daniel (Nushiro) of Japan

Metropolitan Daniel (Nushiro) of All Japan (born Ikuo Nushiro, (ja. 主代郁夫) on 1938-09-05 [http://www.orthodoxjapan.jp/daishukyou.html] ) is a Japanese clergyman and monk of the Japanese Orthodox Church. Since 2000 he is the primate of the Japanese Orthodox Church, by virtue of the office of the Archbishop of Tokyo. He is thus is the spiritual leader of almost 10,000 Japanese Orthodox Christians.

Early life

Metropolitan Daniel was born into a Japanese Orthodox Church family in Toyohashi, Aichi, and baptized as Jude. After he graduated with a degree in French literature from Aichi University in 1962, he studied theology at Tokyo Orthodox Seminary until 1965. He went to Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. In 1968 he finished his study at Saint Vladimir 1968 and was ordained as a diaconate.

Upon his return to Japan, he served as a deacon at Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral from November 1970 till 1972. In 1972 he was ordained a priest and served pastured in Toyohashi, until 1999.

Appointment to the primacy

His wife, who he had married prior to his ordination, passed away earlier than 1999. In this year, his predecessor primate Metropolitan Theodore (Nagashima) of Japan also died, and the Japanese Orthodox Church decided to elect three bishops and Jude Nushiro was considered as a good candidates for bishopric. In 1999-08-20 he got his monastic tonsure and became known as monk Daniel.The Japanese Orthodox Church had planned to have Bishop Peter (Arihara) of Yokohama as successor to the late Metropolitan Theodore, and have Daniel appointed to the Bishopric of Kyoto, but the sudden death of Peter in this year changed their plan entirely. Daniel was then considered the successor of Theodore, and elevated to the rank of archbishop and metropolitan. In 2000-05-14 Daniel was enthroned to the Archbishop of Tokyo and Metropolitan of All Japan, consecrated by Patriarch Alexius II of Russia who visited Japan for his enthronement and other bishops.

Spiritual leadership

Daniel is a prolific writer and insightful preacher with humor and plain wording. He issues tracts both focusing on daily reading and theological issues and the latter type of his writing is published as brochures for education of faithfuls. In his leadership a male monastery was founded in Tokyo in 2005, near to the Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral.