Section
Connections with Japan
Life in Japan, cultural exchange, and ties built through work.
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Three Companies Partnering with Ukrainian Businesses — An Interview with Operator Ryo Horiki
System development, cybersecurity, trade. We asked Ryo Horiki, who runs three companies working with Ukrainian businesses, how it started, how communication has gone since the war began, and what fields he wants to expand into next. Ryo HorikiRepresentative Director and CEO, Kinobo Co., Ltd.; Representative, Vyshytech LLC; Representative, illnoa LLCWorks on business in partnership with Ukraine through each of these companies. The Background and Business Strategy Behind Partnering with Ukraine ― What was your image of Ukraine before you started working together? The partnership began before the Russian military’s invasion…
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President Zelensky Was Set to Join Online — Then He Came to Hiroshima
President Zelensky was originally scheduled to take part in the May 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit online. After he strongly requested to attend in person, he discussed Ukraine with G7 leaders in Hiroshima on the final day, May 21, and laid flowers at the Memorial Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims. Drawing on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' records, this article traces the two days' events and the content of the leaders' statements.
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Free Public Housing and One-Time Payments: Where Municipal Support for Ukrainian Evacuees Stands Now
Since spring 2022, prefectures and municipalities across Japan have offered vacant public housing rent-free and handed out their own one-time payments. Four years on, Hyogo Prefecture closed applications for its living-support payment in March 2025, and the city of Maebashi stopped accepting new arrivals in March 2026. Drawing on municipalities' official pages, this article lines up how these programs began and where they stand now.
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2,902 Ukrainians Have Evacuated to Japan; 1,931 Are Living There Now
Since March 2022, 2,902 people have entered Japan counted as “Ukrainian evacuees,” and 1,931 remain in Japan as of the end of August 2026 (preliminary figures from the Immigration Services Agency). Three in four arrived in the first ten months, and about 70% are women. They now live across 44 prefectures. Since complementary protection began, the breakdown of statuses of residence has also changed substantially.
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Where Has the Japanese Red Cross’s ¥10.2 Billion in Ukraine Relief Donations Gone?
The Japanese Red Cross Society's “Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Relief Fund” had received more than ¥10.2 billion by the end of August 2026. About ¥5 billion was sent to the international Red Cross movement during 2022, and the rest has gone to programs run jointly with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, including rehabilitation, mobile clinics, and home care. The fund's collection period has been extended to the end of March 2027.
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Right Now, the Japanese Embassy in Kyiv Does Not Handle Passports
As of September 2026, the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine, in Kyiv, is not issuing passports or certificates, and only accepts visa applications for short-term business and family visits. The Embassy of Ukraine in Tokyo operates by reservation, and requires men aged 18 to 60 to present an electronic military-registration document. This article lines up what each embassy's counter can and cannot do.
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Demining Machines, Rails, Generators: What JICA Has Sent to Ukraine
JICA's grant aid to Ukraine has come to 6 projects since 2023, totaling more than ¥110.3 billion. About 20 Japanese-made demining machines and about 215 kilometers' worth of rails have been delivered. This article lines up the types and content of these projects, including ¥78 billion in budget support and a ¥471.9 billion ERA loan to be repaid from proceeds on frozen Russian assets.
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The 56 Cooperation Documents Unveiled in Tokyo, and What Followed
At the Japan–Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Recovery and Reconstruction, held on February 19, 2024 at the Keidanren Kaikan in Tokyo, 56 cooperation documents were unveiled, ranging from intergovernmental treaties to memoranda between companies. The tax treaty took effect in August 2025, and JETRO's Kyiv office opened in October 2024. Negotiations to revise the investment agreement were still ongoing as of their 7th round in August 2026.
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After Cigarettes and Iron Ore Disappeared, Here’s What Japan Now Buys From Ukraine
Looking at product categories in the Ministry of Finance's trade statistics, cigarettes, which made up half of Japan's imports from Ukraine in 2021, stopped appearing in the statistics from 2023, and iron ore likewise disappeared by 2024. The largest import category now is aluminum. Japan's exports remain centered on passenger cars, with railway rails standing out in 2024 and transformers in 2025.
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Where to Learn Ukrainian in Japan: Courses at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Osaka University, and the University of Tokyo
There are not many places to learn Ukrainian in Japan. In fall 2026, the only course open to the general public that runs a full term is Tokyo University of Foreign Studies' online course (15 sessions, ¥25,000). Osaka University offers a free public course that touches on many languages, and the University of Tokyo offers a for-credit class, “Introduction to Ukrainian.” Whether classes at Kyoto University and elsewhere, as mentioned by the Embassy, are still running cannot be confirmed from official pages.