Consulate in Hakodate

The introduction of the Russian Orthodox Church to Japan began when Goshkevich was posted to Hakodate.
On August 22, 1853, only a month and a half after Perry's arrival in Uraga, a Russian envoy, Lieutenant General Efimy Vasilyevich Puchatkin, arrived in Nagasaki with a Russian fleet of four ships, including the Pallada.
　In February 1855, Japan concluded a temporary treaty of friendship between Russia and Japan at Shimoda.　

　In August 1858, a further treaty, the Russo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce, was signed in Edo (present-day Tokyo). Russia established a consulate in Hakodate, and its first consul, Goshkevich, arrived in Hakodate on October 24, 1858, at the end of the Edo period.

(From "Missionary Nikolai and Meiji Japan")

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Nikolai Arrives in Japan
　The following year, the "Church of the Resurrection of the Savior" (now Hakodate Orthodox Church) was built as an annex to the Russian Consulate. As a seminary student, Nikolai found an advertisement in the seminary for a priest for the church attached to the Consulate, and decided to evangelize Japan.
　He came to Japan at the end of the Edo period by himself, and overcoming various persecutions and difficulties, he aimed to light a new fire of faith in the hearts of the Japanese people with his indomitable fighting spirit, devotion to God, and love for the Japanese people. However, since he was under the Kirishitan prohibition, there was no freedom for missionary work. He began studying the Japanese language, learning Japanese history, making contact with Japanese people, and gradually preparing himself for missionary work. When I arrived in Japan," Nicolai later said, "I put all my energy into learning the language of the country.