Juice

6/12/09 8:25 AM, Hakodate

Yesterday, Jacob and I walked around the neighborhood near school. The area was the city’s western enclave, and the combination of European architecture and steep hilly streets gives this place a feel of San Francisco as well as of Japan. The area is famous for its churches, throwbacks to a time of concerted Christian missionary activity a century and a half ago.
The Russian Orthodox chapel seemed oddly familiar, and I realized on my way out why: I had visited its sister in Tokyo one year before. When I saw Nikolai Cathedral in the Ocha-no-Mizu area, last summer, I read the story of its founder, St. Nikolai. The missionary came along when the Russian Empire sent its first emissaries to Japan after it was opened to westerners. He built a mission in Hokkaido, then moved to the capitol, where he built the grand complex that would later become the cathedral. I connected the dots, and suddenly I was in front of St. Nikolai’s first Japanese home. Perhaps this is what pilgrims feel when they reach a monument after a long journey. I may not feel the reverence, but I do taste the sweet juice of recognition. Yum.
Completely unrelated: I had local Hakodate milk at breakfast this morning. Delicious!