The first Japanese person to settle in Russia is believed to have been Dembei, a fisherman stranded on the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1701 or 1702. Unable to return to his native Ōsaka due to the Tokugawa Shogunate's sakoku policy, he was instead taken to Moscow and ordered by Peter the Great to begin teaching the language as soon as possible; he thus became the father of Japanese language education in Russia.
Dembei is thought to have been the first Japanese person to settle in Russia after becoming stranded on the Kamchatka Peninsula around 1701 or 1702. As a result of the Tokugawa Shogunate's isolationist policies, he was relocated to Moscow and tasked by Peter the Great with teaching Japanese language.