All articles
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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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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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Heating Room by Room, Refueling Kerosene Yourself: Winter in Japan Without Central Heating
Most homes in Japan have no central heating like Ukraine's. This article covers room-by-room heating appliances and their fuels, refueling kerosene heaters and filling them with the wrong fuel, carbon monoxide and ventilation, condensation, accidents in cold bathrooms, and the energy-efficiency standard for newly built housing since April 2025, based on materials published by NITE, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the Consumer Affairs Agency, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (as of October 2026).
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Flu Vaccination in Japan: Routine Vaccination Is for Age 65 and Over, and Children Under 13 Get Two Doses
For flu vaccination in Japan, the "routine vaccination" (teiki sesshu) provided under the law covers only people aged 65 or older and some people aged 60 to 64, and vaccination of children is optional. This article covers two doses for children under 13, the nasal-spray vaccine for ages 2 to under 19, the fact that health insurance does not apply and that the cost differs by municipality, and the early start of the 2026 flu season and when to get vaccinated (as of October 2026).
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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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Four People in Autumn 2012: Ukrainians Who Received Japanese Decorations and Foreign Minister’s Commendations
The Japanese government awards decorations to foreign nationals who have contributed to exchange with Japan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs separately gives Foreign Minister's Commendations. This article lists 15 people living in Ukraine or holding Ukrainian nationality who were confirmed in the official lists and embassy announcements from 2006 to 2018, together with the achievements as stated in the announcements, and shows the difference between the two systems and the count in the lists since 2019.
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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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Ukraine’s Presidential Elections: Seven Held, Five Went to a Runoff. 1991 to 2019
Independent Ukraine held seven presidential elections between 1991 and 2019. Only in 1991 and 2014 was the outcome decided in the first round; in 2004, the Supreme Court ordered the runoff to be rerun. This article sets out a timeline based on Central Election Commission figures, the constitutional provisions on the term of office, the two-consecutive-term limit, and early elections, and the legal basis for why no election has been held under martial law.
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Vernadsky, Ukraine’s Antarctic Station: Was It Really “Handed Over for One Pound”?
Ukraine's Antarctic research station Akademik Vernadsky was the British station Faraday until February 6, 1996. According to the National Antarctic Scientific Center, which operates it, the memorandum under which the station was transferred provided for it to be handed over free of charge, and the widely told story of "one pound" arose from a joke on the day of the handover. This article traces the timeline from 1947, the changes in the station's name, Ukraine's admission as a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty, and events up to the 2026 wintering expedition.
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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.