Feature
The Ukrainian song you already know
How a 1916 Ukrainian New Year song became “Carol of the Bells” — a way into Ukrainian music, calendar and history.
Ukrainavi Ukraine, explained from Japan.
Culture, history, business and the Japan–Ukraine story — with every figure traced to its source.
Where to start
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Discover Ukraine
Language, history and living culture — a short course for first-time readers.
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Japan and Ukraine
Diplomacy, aid, people and exchange between the two countries, from 1965 to today.
- A Japan-Ukraine Timeline ── From the 1965 Sister-City Partnership to Yen Loans
- How Japan Established Relations with a New Country That Still Had Nuclear Weapons
- Japan’s Support for Ukraine: About $20 Billion in Total — the Single Largest Item Is a Loan Repaid From Russian Assets
- 2,902 Ukrainians Have Evacuated to Japan; 1,931 Are Living There Now
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Business and recovery
Industry, investment risk, tech partnerships and the recovery finance behind the headlines.
- Ukraine’s Wartime Industries — The Weight of Agriculture, Manufacturing, Services, and Energy
- If War Destroys a Factory, Who Pays? Political Risk Insurance for Investment in Ukraine
- Before You Contract with a Ukrainian Engineer — Three Employment Frameworks, and Intellectual Property
- Ukraine’s Computer Services Exports: The United States Is the Largest Destination, Malta Second
Editors' picks
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To Tokyo with His Family in 1929: The Pianist Leo Sirota
Pianist Leo Sirota first visited Japan on a concert tour in 1928 and lived there from 1929 to 1946. Drawing on Tokyo Music School's staff rosters, contemporary yearbooks, and academic papers, this article traces the discrepancies in how his birthplace is recorded, the students he taught, and even conflicting dates for when he left Japan.
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Two-Thirds of Ukraine’s Vineyards Are in Odesa Oblast: Wine Regions and Geographical Indications
Ukraine's vineyards covered 27,000 hectares in 2024, with about two-thirds in Odesa Oblast. This article looks, through statistics, legislation, and the intellectual-property office's register, at the Shabo settlement founded by Swiss settlers in the 19th century, the new wine law that took effect in January 2026, and the six wine geographical indications registered since 2023.
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A Monastery That Began in a Cave in 1051: The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
The chronicle places, under the year 1051, the story of a monastery beginning in a small cave on a hill in Kyiv. This article traces its history in a timeline: the year it received the title "Lavra," the printing press of 1615, the fire of 1718, the reserve of 1926, and the destruction of the cathedral in 1941, laying out the years that encyclopedias give differently side by side.
A word from Oriuka
What does each of the president, the Verkhovna Rada, and the Cabinet decide? A table sets them side by side.
Read “What Do Ukraine’s President, Verkhovna Rada, and Cabinet of Ministers Each Decide?”Latest
See all articles-
Eleven Sherlock Holmes Games and Counting: Frogwares of Kyiv
The Kyiv game company Frogwares was founded in 2000, and its own list of games includes 11 with “Sherlock Holmes” in the title. Drawing on company announcements and news reports, the article looks at its Irish subsidiary, how the number of games changes depending on how you count, the dispute with its publisher over the rights to The Sinking City, and development since the full-scale invasion.
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From Barefoot Gen to Chi’s Sweet Home: Japanese Manga in Ukrainian
According to the publishing trade outlet Chytomo, the first Japanese manga in Ukrainian was volume 1 of Barefoot Gen in 2009. Translations licensed by Japanese publishers began to appear steadily with Chi’s Sweet Home, published in 2019 by Nasha Idea of Dnipro. The article looks at the licensing hurdles that publishers described, the number of titles in a publisher’s list, and the debate over how to write Japanese sounds in Cyrillic.
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Residential Fire Alarms Are Required in Bedrooms and on Stairs; Replace Them About 10 Years After Installation
In Japan, the Fire Service Act requires residential fire alarms in bedrooms and on the stairs of the floor where a bedroom is located. Kitchens and other places depend on municipal ordinances, and within the Tokyo Fire Department's jurisdiction, alarms are also required in rooms in regular use and kitchens. This article covers when installation became mandatory, who the persons concerned are in a rented home, replacement after 10 years, the sound of a dead battery, and the installation rate of 84.9% (June 2025).
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Claiming Family Members in Ukraine as Dependents in Japan: Proof of Kinship, Remittance Records, and the 380,000-Yen Condition
People who pay income tax in Japan can sometimes claim family members living in Ukraine for the dependent deduction, but they must give their employer or tax office documents showing the family relationship and records of money sent. Since 2023, family members aged 30 to under 70 must also meet a condition (studying abroad, a disability, or receiving at least 380,000 yen a year in remittances), and from the 2026 tax year the income ceiling for a dependent relative is 620,000 yen. This article sets out the types of documents and when to submit them (as of October 2026).
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Gifts Under the Pillow and the Two Mykolas of Winter and Spring: St. Mykolai’s Day in Ukraine
In Ukraine, some families place a gift under a child's pillow on the night before St. Mykolai's Day. In the calendars of the two large churches, this day has been December 6 rather than December 19 since September 2023. This article looks at the legend of the 4th-century bishop, the winter and spring folk traditions, how encyclopedias differ in describing the origin of the gift-giving custom, and the relationship with Ded Moroz of the Soviet era, using encyclopedias and church calendars.
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Roads Are Cleared by the Local Government, Sites by the Owner: Ukraine’s Rules for War Debris
Who clears the debris of buildings destroyed by Russian attacks, where it is put, and what it is reused for? In Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1073 of September 2022 sets out the procedure. This article looks, through the text of the law and reports as of September 2026, at how debris with an unknown owner is handled, the conditions for temporary storage sites, and why estimates of the quantity of debris differ between sources.
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Rumeis and Urums: The Crimean Greeks Who Settled in Mariupol
Mariupol and the villages around it were formed when Christians who left Crimea in 1778 settled there. Their Greek-descended people are divided into Rumeis, who speak a language descended from Greek, and Urums, who speak a Turkic language. This article sets out, using encyclopedias and statistics, the year and number of the migration, the two names, the language policy of the 1920s, and the figures from the 2001 census.
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From the Seven Lugano Principles to Tallinn: A Timeline of the Ukraine Recovery Conference
The Ukraine Recovery Conference has been held every year since Lugano in 2022, and the June 2026 conference in Gdańsk was its fifth as a recovery conference. Its predecessor was a reform conference that began in 2017. Drawing on each conference's outcome document, this article looks at the host cities and co-hosting countries, the seven Lugano Principles, the theme of each conference, and how to read the amounts announced, which cannot simply be added together.
Browse by section
Culture & History
Food, music, literature and crafts: Ukrainian culture and the history behind it.
Articles: 113
People & Life
Everyday life, work and school. The voices of people connected with Ukraine.
Articles: 93
- Heating Room by Room, Refueling Kerosene Yourself: Winter in Japan Without Central Heating
- Flu Vaccination in Japan: Routine Vaccination Is for Age 65 and Over, and Children Under 13 Get Two Doses
- Japan Has 16 National Holidays: The Substitute-Holiday Rule, and a Vernal Equinox Day Decided a Year Ahead
Business & Recovery
Industries and companies, and the work and challenges of recovery and reconstruction.
Articles: 50
- Four People in Autumn 2012: Ukrainians Who Received Japanese Decorations and Foreign Minister’s Commendations
- The “Father of Futurism” Lands at Tsuruga, 1920: Painter Davyd Burliuk’s Two Years in Japan
- From Taiho’s Father to Shishi and Aonishiki: Ukraine in the Sumo Association’s Records
折り目の案内所
記事の余白に、小さな案内所があります
見出しの前や表のそばで、オリュカと仲間たちが読む道を案内します。どこから読むかを決めるのは、読む人。確かめられていないことは、確かめられていないまま示します。
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Oriuka
問いを開いて、入口を指す
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Taburi
目印を置いて、来た道へ戻す
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Suune
まだわからない所を照らす
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Yorikune
もうひとつの入口へ曲がる
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Shimero
まず読む一本を揃える
From the publisher (not an article)
Practical support for working with Ukraine
株式会社Kinobo (co-operated by 合同会社Vyshytech, 合同会社illnoa), which runs Ukrainavi, provides practical services that connect Ukraine and Japan. Our editorial team’s policy is to produce articles independently of the business interests listed here (Editorial policy).
- Interpreting and translation
- Offshore software development
- Reporting coordination
- Introductions to local partners
- Commissioned research
- Advertising and sponsored content
On 19 January 2026, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a Level 4 travel advisory (evacuate; do not travel) for all of Ukraine, and it remained in effect as of 22 September 2026. We are not registered as a travel agency, so we cannot accept requests that involve travel to Ukraine. We provide online interpreting, development and research, as well as services within Japan.