Dearest in Christ:
My name is Paul Koroluk. I am a priest in the Kyivan Patriarchate, and have the undeserved honour and duty of serving the Faithful of our mission in Japan. I learned of this thread, and this site, after our humble little website received several dozen hits from the links posted above.
So many points were raised above, most much more articulate than I would dare to emulate, but I would like to expand slightly on some of the points noted above. I will attempt to focus on Japan, rather than Ukraine, although both are people I care deeply about.
1. Autonomy of the Japanese Orthodox Church
Although the OCJ under the Moscow Patriarchate (known locally as the "Japanese Christian Orthodox Church"), is, of course, in full communion with world Orthodoxy, the autonomous status of the Church is not universally recognized, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate officially refutes this position. Hence, given the example of the Greek Orthodox priest mentioned above, were Father Anthony to travel to Japan, I believe he would be under the authority of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of New Zealand, whose territory includes Japan. (Naturally, I am certain the good father would attempt to call upon the OCJ hierarchy, and I hope he would consider visiting us informally.)
2. Recognition of Autonomy and Autocephaly
The Canons of the Orthodox Church do not spell out any procedure for recognizing the status of a national church. This has been the cause of confusion throughout history, but also wisely helps ensure that the process remains organic, and influenceable by the Holy Spirit. In every instance where this matter was decided by an Ecumenical Council, it was to recognize a situation that had already existed, not to proclaim a new status for a local church.
3. Autonomy of the UOC-MP
More than a pedantic point, the Synod of the ROC has yet to consider the matter of the status of the UOC(MP), which was originally on the agenda in 1992. As such, the church is recognized by the ROC as having a canonically undefined status of "independence in self-government", a status which is considered temporary and rescindable. In practice, this means that the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, with a thousand year history and millions of faithful, has less autonomy then the OCJ, a one hundred year old church with a few thousand faithful.
4. The Russian Mission
Although the OCJ is under the Moscow Patriarchate, there is also an ROC mission here, with a church in Tokyo and a monastery in Chiba. They will also be celebrating the Nativity on the 7th. These institutions (which, unlike us, are funded by their government) exist with the permission of the OCJ.
5. Situation in Japan
I have, truly, the utmost respect for the strength of faith and level of knowledge of the hierarchy, clergy, and faithful of the OCJ. However, without judging any of the difficult decisions they must make, it is simply a recognition of a demographic fact to note that the OCJ is shrinking every year. The Church is now down to less than 9,000 faithful, with no more than several hundred showing up on any Sunday other than Pascha. According to the OCJ website, all but a few of the churches are now served only once or twice a month. Why this has happened is something that should be asked by the OCJ, but it is an objective analysis to note that, unless something changes, the church will die out.
Meanwhile, Japan today is a nation that is less than 1% Christian, and about 80% atheist. There is, quite naturally, a huge hunger here to fill the void in people's hearts and, absent any Orthodox missionary presence, that void is being filled in other ways. The LDS Church, which has 100 full time missionary teams on the ground, was for a time growing at 6% a year. Last year, the 20th mosque opened in Japan, all but one of these having been built in the last decade. There are clearly many among the 100 million or so Japanese atheists who are reaching out.
I do not believe it is the fault of the Japanese, many of whom are joyful to to find in Orthodox Christianity a way to express things that were already in their hearts, nor, obviously, do I believe that it is the fault of the Orthodox Faith. God's Truth is true to all. One hundred years ago, there were nearly 300 Japanese priests and the Church was growing. The war years made things difficult, but after World War II, over 40,000 Faithful returned to the Church. The fault of what happened since then is ours; we failed the Japanese.
6. Our Mission
In life, we choose among imperfect options. For myself and those of us in our mission, we are confident that the choice we have made is the right one for us. After 15 years, Moscow remains unwilling to even talk with Ukraine's largest Orthodox Church, still insisting on repentance and re-baptism (!) as a *starting point* for discussions. I think we have been very patient, and, if Moscow is unwilling to talk, there seems no reason why the Kyivan Patriarchate should continue to refrain from having a mission here, especially given the present dire need of the Ukrainian community and the hunger of the general population.
One of the things that made me most happy during our formation stage was that there was unanimous agreement that we would not define ourselves as against anyone. We are here to find our way, and to welcome those who wish to travel with us, but we are not out to damage or destroy anyone. As with all Eastern Rite Christians, we pray fervently for the Union of all.
We are small, we are weak, we are poor, but we are sincere, we are honest, and we are here.
By the way, to return to the original topic, of the 41 reservations made for our 'sviata vechera', 21 are for Ukrainian expatriates, while the rest are mostly Japanese, with one or two from each of the United States, Australia, Sweden, Korea, and Iran. I am happy about that, and I am really looking forward to our first Nativity together.
Your most unworthy servant,
(Rev.) Paul Koroluk
St. Jude Ukrainian Orthodox Mission, Tokyo
http://www.stjude.jp 
