Yakov Dmitriyevich Tikhai (russian: Яков Дмитриевич Тихай pronounced tee-'high) was a Russian orthodox composer, liturgist, and missionary. With Dmitri Lvovsky, he established a liturgical music school in Tokyo on the grounds of the Japanese mission to educate Japanese Christians in the new forms of music and to teach Japanese choir leaders for the new parishes.

Life

Не graduated from the Chişinău Theological Seminary. He was recommended by his older brother,

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

Anatoly (Tikhai), to then archimandrite

Nicholas of Japan Saint Nicholas (Kasatkin), Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan, born Ivan Dmitrovich Kasatkin (russian: Иван Дмитриевич Касаткин; – 16 February 1912) was a Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Р� ...

, and became Fr. Nicholas' principal arranger of Russian liturgical music to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese translations during the early decades of the Japanese mission. Yakov Tikhai came from the Romanian village of Tărăsăuţi, in the Hotin district in northern

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

(

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

), and arrived to Japan in early 1874 to assist his brother the Archimandrite Anatoly at his assignment to the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

, Japan. Fr. Anatoly had succeeded Fr. Nicholas in the Hakodate parish when Fr. Nicholas transferred his mission headquarters to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Later, Yakov was invited by Fr. Nicholas to serve as choirmaster at Suragadai Kanda. Under the guidance of Bp. Nicholas, Yakov arranged the music for almost all the needed texts used in the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...

, major feasts,

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

, funerals, the first week of

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast, (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days," and "Great Fast," respectively) is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denominat ...

, and

Passion Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, wh ...

. As his successor,

Victor Pokrovsky Victor Alexandrovich Pokrovsky was a choir director, translator, and music arranger. He worked for the Metropolitan Sergius (Tikhomirov) at Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Tokyo, Japan) from 1924 until 1962—except for during World War II and some of ...

under Metr. Sergius needed to do, Yakov found it necessary to change the music to meet the different sense and structure of the Japanese language. Yakov married Yelena Yokoi, daughter of a prominent Japanese family, in 1876. During a visit to

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

in 1887, Yakov died. His wife and children later returned to Japan.

External links

* Orthodox Church Singing in Japan

Paschal Troparion in three languages (In Church Slavonic, Koine Greek, and Japanese)
*
MISIONARI ŞI APOSTOLI ORTODOCŞI ROMÂNI ÎN JAPONIA SECOLULUI XIX

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tikhai, Yakov Year of birth missing People from Chernivtsi Oblast 1887 deaths Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox missionaries Romanian Christian missionaries Romanian expatriates in Japan Orthodox Church in Japan Christian missionaries in Japan