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Understanding Society/Explainer

Refugee, IDP, Evacuee — Words That Don’t Mean the Same Thing

"Refugee," "internally displaced person," "temporary protection," and "evacuee" are each terms defined by a different system, in a different way. Mixing them up describes a real person's status in a way that doesn't match the facts. This article works from the primary sources — the Refugee Convention, the UN's Guiding Principles, EU law, and Japan's Immigration Control Act — to set out what each term actually means, and a procedure writers can follow to check.
A mustached man in an embroidered shirt, seated

Culture & History/Explainer

From ‘Shchedryk’ to ‘Carol of the Bells’: How One Melody Became Two Songs
Prime Minister Kishida and President Zelensky exchanging documents in front of both countries' flags

Connections with Japan/Data & Documents

A Japan-Ukraine Timeline ── From the 1965 Sister-City Partnership to Yen Loans
A combine harvester parked in a wheat field where much of the crop has already been cut

Business & Recovery/Explainer

Ukraine’s Wartime Industries — The Weight of Agriculture, Manufacturing, Services, and Energy

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  1. Kutia, a dish of grain and poppy seed, served in a ceramic bowl

    Culture & History/Explainer

    Ukraine’s Christmas Moves from January 7 to December 25

    Under a July 2023 law, Ukraine removed January 7 from its list of national holidays, leaving only December 25 as Christmas. That same September, two of the country's major churches also switched to a calendar that celebrates Christmas on December 25. This article separates the law, the church calendars, and family customs, and explains the twelve dishes of Christmas Eve and koliadky along the way.

  2. Connections with Japan/Explainer

    What Did Yokohama-Odesa and Kyoto-Kyiv Actually Agree To As Sister Cities?

    There is no legal definition of a "sister city." What agreement documents typically state is friendship and mutual understanding. What kind of documents formed the Yokohama-Odesa and Kyoto-Kyiv partnerships, who has carried them forward, and what has continued? A 2023 memorandum between Yokohama and Odesa was a more concrete document, spelling out both a purpose and a deadline.
  3. Panoramic view of the Dnipro River flowing through Kyiv, with a bridge

    Understanding Society/Explainer

    What Kind of Country Is Ukraine? — Area, Population, Language, Daily Life

    A basic overview of Ukraine's area, population, languages, and daily life. The last census was in 2001, so every population figure since then is an estimate. For each number, we note the date and scope it covers, moving through geography, language, and daily life in that order.
  4. An embroidered shirt and an embroidered rushnyk cloth hanging on a wooden beam

    Culture & History/Explainer

    Vyshyvanka ── Embroidery That Differs by Region, Including a Pattern That Arrived in the Late 19th Century

    The vyshyvanka, Ukraine's embroidered shirt, varies in technique and color from region to region. Among the patterns now displayed as "traditional" is a cross-stitch design that arrived from soap wrappers in the late 19th century. How far can the meanings often attached to these patterns actually be backed up by sources? This article also looks at how the vyshyvanka is treated in Ukraine's national heritage list and in UNESCO's list.
  5. Three decorated eggs arranged on a lace cloth

    Culture & History/Explainer

    Pysanka: The Ukrainian Wax-Written Egg, and Its 2024 UNESCO Listing

    In December 2024, what was added to UNESCO's Representative List was "Pysanka, Ukrainian tradition and art of decorating eggs," a joint submission by Ukraine and Estonia. How do dictionaries and museums distinguish between these eggs? What warnings do Ukrainian researchers give about decoding "this pattern means this"? And the oldest surviving clues are not eggs at all, but 12th-century pottery.

  6. Culture & History/Explainer

    The Day ‘Kiev’ Became ‘Kyiv,’ and How Ukraine’s Place Names Get Their Spelling

    On March 31, 2022, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed how it referred to Ukraine's capital, from 'Kiev' to 'Kyiv.' What changed was not the city's name, but how Київ is transliterated. This article looks in turn at the Ukrainian government resolution that sets the Latin-alphabet spelling, the #KyivNotKiev campaign, place-name changes made by law, and how older spellings are treated in historical sources.

  7. Culture & History/Explainer

    How Ukrainian and Russian Differ

    Ukrainian and Russian both use the Cyrillic alphabet, but Ukrainian has і, ї, є, and ґ, and lacks ы, э, ъ, and ё. Differences also show up in the sound of "г," in the words for "yes" and "no," and in borrowings from Polish. Together with the history of Ukrainian being dismissed as "just a dialect" under imperial Russia, this article explains how close, and how far apart, the two languages are.
  8. The dome of the Verkhovna Rada building, Ukraine's parliament, seen down a street

    Understanding Society/Explainer

    What Do Ukraine’s President, Verkhovna Rada, and Cabinet of Ministers Each Decide?

    Ukraine's Constitution sets the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament, at 450 seats, and provides that the prime minister is nominated by the parliamentary majority, proposed by the president, and appointed by parliament. This article lays out the powers of the three institutions along with their article numbers, and introduces the legal basis for why no elections have been held since 2022, together with the debate over how that basis should be read.

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Culture & History

Food, music, literature and crafts: Ukrainian culture and the history behind it.

Articles: 6

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Understanding Society

The institutions, economy and social trends behind the news.

Articles: 6

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Business & Recovery

Industries and companies, and the work and challenges of recovery and reconstruction.

Articles: 1

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Connections with Japan

Life in Japan, cultural exchange, and ties built through work.

Articles: 2

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From the publisher (not an article)

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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.