杉原 千畝 Chiune Sugihara

In the Catholic Hagiography Circle webpage dedicated to non-Catholics, I noticed a photo of Japanese diplomat 杉原 千畝 Sugihara Chiune (Japanese place the family name first), whom I knew to be a hero of the Holocaust, or השואה ha-sho’ah, during World War II, when he was instrumental in saving the lives of over 6,000 European Jews by getting them exit visas to Japanese territory. For his heroic acts, he was awarded the status of חסידי אומות העולם Chassidéy ’Ummót Ha‘olám, Righteous among the Nations, by the State of Israel in 1985.

Chiune Sugihara was born January 1, 1900, in Yaotsu, a rural area in Gifu Prefecture of the Chūbu region to a middle-class father, Mitsugoro Sugihara, and Yatsu Sugihara, a samurai-class mother. He was the second son among five boys and one girl. I don't want to repeat his story in this post, but you can read it here in Wikipedia, and also here in a private webpage titled A Hidden Life. This morning, I also found a short video (in English, with Japanese and English subtitles) that tells his story and includes interviews with his wife, as well as many photos.

What prompted me to research a little further was the question whether or not he was a Christian. From seeing him being included in the Catholic Hagiography Circle webpage dedicated to non-Catholics, I assumed he must have been, but I wanted to find out for sure. Many Japanese that are well known in the West have been Christians, such as my favorite actor Toshiro Mifune, or the conductor Seiji Ozawa, but it hadn't occurred to me that Sugihara might have been one too. Being a Christian in Japan is not quite the same as being one in America or Europe where it's almost something you are born into. Usually, you must choose.

As it turns out, Chiune Sugihara had accepted Orthodox Christianity when he lived in Harbin, Manchuria. He had married a White Russian woman, so the original impetus may have been as it often is, convert in order to marry. Orthodox Christianity does not permit the marriage of believers with non-Christians. But they were divorced, and in 1935 when he married his second wife, a Japanese, she also converted to Orthodox Christianity, taking the name Maria. This leads me to suspect that his Christianity was not merely a formality, as his later actions proved.

In his quiet, modest way, Sugihara very much embodied the noble concept of Tolstoy’s prince. He sought neither fame nor fortune, merely saying ‘I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't I would be disobeying God.’ When asked why he chose to help the Jewish refugees, he responded,

‘You want to know about my motivation, don't you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent. People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people's lives… The spirit of humanity, philanthropy… neighborly friendship… with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation… and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.’

Ikon of Japanese
‘Righteous among the nations’
Chiune Sugihara 杉原千畝
The verse reads:
Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him.

Svetlana, an Orthodox Christian ikonographer in Serbia, has written this ikon of Chiune Sugihara. As far as I know, Sugihara, an Orthodox layman, has not been ‘glorified’—that is, formally canonised—by any Orthodox jurisdiction, yet here is an ikon. And this morning, brother Bojan Teodosijevic sent me an audio link to a troparion chanted by Deacon Michael Filmore of the Antiochian Christian Orthodox Church to honor this new saint of the Church. New saint of the Church? Well, yes. Though the process of declaring someone a ‘saint’ has its protocol, it is the people who usually jump start it. In the case of Chiune Sugihara, we have a unique situation. He is a ‘saint’ both to the Jews and to the Orthodox Christians. That has to be a pleasant surprise to God—no, sorry! I think He knows already who Chiune Sugihara is, since He made him, called him, sanctified him, and accepted his sacrifices.

I just wanted to remember this saint as we head toward the Sunday of Πεντηκοστή (pen-dee-koss-TEE), Pentecost, when by the descent and gift of the Holy Spirit, not only was the Church born, but every member of it given the grace to follow Jesus, who says,

I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12 Jerusalem Bible