Where to Get Help When You Start Living in Japan — Including Places You Can Consult in Ukrainian

This article is a map for confirming where someone who has started living in Japan can “first go to ask.” It does not describe how a procedure applies to your own case. Decisions about status of residence or applications differ from person to person, and this article cannot make them for you. Please consult someone qualified for that.

The contacts listed here are only ones we confirmed were still being provided by opening each institution’s page on September 23, 2026. Anything we could not confirm is not listed. Even so, systems change. Please check the page again before you make a call.

First, a Contact That Has Ended

The “Ukrainian Evacuee Help Desk” that the Immigration Services Agency of Japan used to run has already ended. The agency’s page states as follows.

The Ukrainian Evacuee Help Desk ended on March 31, 2024.

Immigration Services Agency of Japan, “Ukrainian Evacuee Help Desk” (confirmed September 23, 2026). The same content is given alongside in Ukrainian and Russian

Guidance materials made right after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began sometimes still carry this contact’s number as-is. If you find an old flyer or roundup article, check the date first. The same applies to this article: nothing here is guaranteed beyond the confirmation date above. The same page directs you, as your current point of contact, to the telephone consultation service of the Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ), run by the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People.

There Are Contacts You Can Consult in Ukrainian

As of September 23, 2026, the following two are provided.

• The Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) telephone consultation service — 0120-400-250. Hours are weekdays 9:30–12:30 and 13:30–17:00. Languages supported are Japanese, English, French, Ukrainian and Russian. The Immigration Services Agency lists this as the successor contact to its now-ended help desk.
• The help desk at the Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) — Navi Dial 0570-011000. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the New Year period. The agency’s page states it supports “12 languages in addition to Japanese (English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Nepali, Ukrainian and Russian).”

Regional immigration offices also have a “Ukrainian evacuee support desk.” However, the agency writes, “For consultations in a foreign language, it may take time before you can be seen, depending on interpreter availability.”

To be honest about it, a Ukrainian interpreter is not always available. As of September 23, 2026, the agency is still recruiting, with no set deadline, people willing to help interpret in Ukrainian. That, in turn, means hands are not fully staffed. If someone who speaks Japanese can come with you, things may move faster.

Think of FRESC as “a Cluster of Counters”

FRESC is a facility in Yotsuya, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, housing eight organizations according to the agency’s page: the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau, the Human Rights Division of the Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau, the Japan Legal Support Center (Houterasu), the Tokyo Labour Bureau’s Special Consultation and Support Office for Foreign Workers, the Tokyo Employment Service Center for Foreigners, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Visa Information desk, and JETRO.

What matters is that Houterasu is among them. When you run into a legal issue involving your status of residence, a contract, or work, neither this article nor an administrative guidance page can give you an answer. Just remember that a public entry point exists there, and confirm on the spot what you can and can’t use it for.

Contacts Where You Live Are Separate from National Contacts

National systems and municipal systems are separate. National Health Insurance procedures and school consultations are actually handled by your municipality, and the name of the counter and the language it supports differ by municipality.

We can’t list every municipality nationwide in this article. Instead, we’ll show you one place to search: the Immigration Services Agency’s “Find a consultation point where you live” (https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/12_00227.html). You can narrow the search by prefecture, supported language, and consultation method (in person, phone, email, LINE or other social media). Japanese- and English-language list PDFs are also posted there.

Select your prefecture, and check whether Ukrainian is among the languages. If not, look for a counter that offers English, Russian, or Easy Japanese. That order should involve the fewest detours.

Medical Care and Insurance

The Immigration Services Agency explains: “To receive medical care in Japan, you need to join National Health Insurance. Once you join National Health Insurance, even if you go to a hospital for an illness or injury, you only pay 20% or 30% of the medical cost.” The same page also states that people aged 40 and over will join long-term care insurance, and if you come to need care, you can receive care services for a 10% share of the cost.

The place to complete the procedure is the office of the municipality where you live. Whether you are covered depends on your status of residence, so we won’t state anything definitively here. Please confirm at your municipal office or one of the contacts above. For when you’re stuck for words at the hospital, the Refugee Assistance Headquarters publishes a Ukrainian-language “medical glossary” as a PDF, linked from the agency’s page.

Your Children’s Schooling

Where to ask depends on the type of school. The agency’s page directs you as follows: for elementary and junior high school, “please consult the office of your nearby municipality. Both have something called a board of education, which will take your consultation”; for high school, the office of the prefecture you live in; and for university and technical colleges, the school itself.

As a national contact, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) runs a help desk for school enrollment and Japanese-language education. According to the ministry’s own page, this is by email at ukraine-helpdesk@mext.go.jp, or by phone at +81-3-5253-4111 (the ministry notes “this call is not free”), with consultation hours of weekdays 9:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., supporting two languages, Easy Japanese and English. Because the phone number is a general switchboard number that transfers you to the relevant section, the ministry itself writes, “We recommend contacting us by email.” Support in Ukrainian is not mentioned.

Working

This is where the most care is needed. Whether you can work in Japan, and what kind of job is suitable, depends on your status of residence. Even among people who have come from Ukraine in the same way, the status of residence they hold is not all the same. This article will not write about who falls into which category.

We’ll only point you to where to confirm it. Matters of status of residence go through the Immigration Services Agency. The agency states that Ukrainian nationals who entered with the status of residence “Temporary Visitor” for the purpose of evacuation, or foreign nationals whose habitual residence is in Ukraine, can “in principle, apply for a change of status of residence to ‘Designated Activities (1 year),’ which allows you to work.” This is guidance that an application can be filed — it is not a guarantee of approval, nor does it apply to everyone. Ask at an immigration counter or the FRESC help desk about your own case.

For job hunting, go to Hello Work. The agency’s page states, “At Hello Work, staff of the national government help you look for work. There is no charge.” Note that we could not confirm whether Hello Work offers telephone consultation in Ukrainian.

Studying Japanese

The Japan Foundation’s teaching material “Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan,” beginner level, has a Ukrainian-language edition (https://www.irodori.jpf.go.jp/ua/). The explanations are written in Ukrainian, and both the material and the audio can be downloaded for free. In-person Japanese classes are often run by municipalities or international exchange associations, and whether they exist, and their cost, differ by location. Here, too, looking up your own area through the consultation-point search above is the surest way.

When You Don’t Know Whom to Ask

Not finding a contact is not unusual. That’s because counters are split by field, and separately again between national and municipal government. Here is the order to follow at that point.

• If you don’t know the field, search by language first. Use the Immigration Services Agency’s consultation-point search, specifying your prefecture and your language.
• If that still doesn’t work, go to the FRESC help desk (0570-011000). Counters for residence, human rights, law, labor and employment are all in the same facility.
• If you want to speak Ukrainian, the Refugee Assistance Headquarters (0120-400-250).
• For everyday-life procedures, the office of the municipality where you live. Some municipal offices also have a consultation desk for foreign residents.
• If it looks like it may become a legal issue, go to someone qualified. Houterasu is housed within FRESC.
• When you find guidance somewhere, check the date. The number for a contact that has already ended sometimes remains posted.

Contact	Mainly for consulting about	Ukrainian
Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) telephone consultation 0120-400-250 Weekdays 9:30–12:30, 13:30–17:00	Everyday life in general (listed by the Immigration Services Agency as the current contact)	Available (also Japanese, English, French, Russian)
FRESC help desk 0570-011000 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., closed weekends, holidays and New Year	An entry point for residence, human rights, law, labor and employment	Available (12 languages in addition to Japanese)
Find a consultation point where you live (Immigration Services Agency web page)	Search for a counter in your prefecture by language and consultation method	Narrow down and confirm by language
Municipal office	National Health Insurance, elementary/junior high school, everyday-life procedures	Depends on the municipality
MEXT help desk ukraine-helpdesk@mext.go.jp	School enrollment and Japanese-language education	Not available (Easy Japanese and English)
Hello Work	Job hunting (free)	Could not confirm

One last thing. This article shows you where the counters are. It does not tell you which system applies to you, or whether an application will be approved. Only someone with authority who actually looks at your documents can decide that.