Japanese Orthodox Church (The Orange Outback)

The Japanese Orthodox Church (JOC; Japanese: 日本正教会 Nihon Seikyōkai), also known as the Japanese Patriarchate (Japanese: 日本総主教制 Nihon Sōshukyō-sei) is the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Japan that has its origins in the Russian Orthodox Church but also combines aspects from Buddhism, Shintoism, and other Orthodox Churches. Officially, it considered part of the Eastern Orthodox Church but has close ties to Oriental Orthodox Church. The primate of the JOC is the Patriarch of Ezo and All Japan, and the JOC officially ranks seventh in the Orthodox order of precedents, immediately below the Russian Orthodox Church and the Four Ancient Patriarchates. The JOC was officially proclaimed in 1862 when the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan severed ties with the Russian Orthodox Church due to disputes in its beliefs on marriage and celibacy as well as a desire for the Japanese people to be free of direct Russian influence. The JOC elected its first Patriarch, Patriarch Nikon of Hakodate, in 1864. The JOC and ROC would later re-enter communion as two autocephalous churches in 1923. Currently, the JOC has canonical jurisdiction of all of Japan, Korea, and the autonomous Japanese Orthodox Church of the Americas. It also claims jurisdiction of the Parthian Orthodox Church, which the Russian and Chinese Orthodox Churches recognize, but not by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Establishment and Early Activities (1774-1805)
First established after the Sakhalin War in 1774, Ethnic Russians created the church to continue practice of their religion, even as Japanese subjects. In 1785, the first Japanese converts joined the church, most of them converting from the Catholic faith. During this time, multiple churches were built in Sakhalin (then renamed Karafuto) and the religion stayed mostly on the island.

Expansion to Ezo and Missionary Activity in Edo (1805-1842)
Starting in the 1790s, Russian Orthodox missionaries were sent to northern Japan to convert people in an attempt to reclaim Sakhalin for Russia. These missions would fail in that aspect as many of the missionaries came to enjoy Japan and remained their, even advocating for the independence of the ROCIJ. As the number of missions increased, so did the number of converts. When the missions began in 1791, there were only around 5000 Japanese converts, this jumped dramatically to 400,000 by the end of the missions in 1816. During this time, the religion had expanded to Ezo (now Hokkaido), with many Japanese colonists converting. In 1843, the church moved its headquarters from the Nicolas Monastery in what is now downtown Toyohara to the newly built Hokunokō Monestary in the city of Hakodate in southern Hokkaido. This was done in an attempt to further the influence of Russia on Japan. However, this backfired when in 1842, several churches belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan caught on to the plan and began refusing entry to Russian Orthodox Priests.

Schism and Creation of the Japanese Orthodox Church (1842-1864)
This trend continued into the 1850s when Russia finally gave up on trying to influence Japan using the church. This, move, however, did not satisfy the Japanese members, who continually pressured the Head Bishop of the Hakodate to declare its own Patriarchy and sever ties with the ROC. As the Hakodate Metropolitan resisted, he was later assassinated in 1862 and Teruo Nikon Miyazaki, a pro-independence Bishop, was elected into the Metropolitan position and subsequently declared himself Patriarch of Hakodate and All Japan in 1864. This move was immediately countered by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' but to no avail. The Ecumenical Patriarchate would recognize this new Japanese Orthodox Church in 1866.

Further Expansion in Japan and Missions to Korea and China (1866-1903)
As the new Patriarch of Hakodate and All Japan, Miyazaki Nikon started sending missions to Joseon Korea and China. These new missions were initially met with resistance from Catholic Koreans who engaged in some skirmishes and assassinations of Japanese Orthodox Missionaries. In China, the growing Chinese Orthodox Church was officially established by the Japanese Orthodox Church, with the headquarters in Japanese-built Harbin Monastery in the city of Harbin of the Chinese Empire.