Next to the room with the dining table was a cathedral, decorated with icons
After a 30-minute ride on the bus, which only runs five times a day on weekends, you can reach it by walking from the bus stop through a nondescript residential area. Although the thatched roof gives a sense of age, the exterior is simply an old house; the building, which was preserved and repaired in 2020, even looks brand new. However, despite its mundane appearance, this thatched-roof building is a Christian cathedral. Built just six years after the Russian Orthodox priest St Nikolai began his mission in Japan in 1873, it is the longest-established Orthodox church in the Kanto region.
As in a normal house, you take off your shoes at the entrance and enter a room with tatami mats. There is a dining table on it, and it is no different from any other private house in the area. It is when you look beyond it that you realise it is not normal. There are icons hanging on the wall, not unlike thatched roofs, and it is a cathedral. This is the reason why this thatched-roof building is an Orthodox church. Paintings of Christ and the Virgin Mary by Rin Yamashita, a highly regarded female artist of the Meiji period, quietly greet visitors as they enter the tatami-floored chapel. But the atmosphere is so different from that of the surrounding area that it feels like a secret base.
| Jun 2024 ARCHITECTURE CHIBA | |
| CATHEDRAL CHURCH KASHIWA |
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PHOTO DATA
No
12598
Shooting Date
Oct 2023
Posted On
June 12, 2024
Place
Kashiwa, Chiba
Genre
Architectural Photography
Camera
SONY ALPHA 7R V
Lens
ZEISS BATIS 2/40 CF
