Strong diplomatic relations and cultural exchanges are helping to bridge the 8,000-kilometer distance between Ukraine and Japan.
Since early 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and unleashed war in the Donbas, Japan has provided Ukraine with $1.86 billion in aid, and it stands alone among Asian nations in slapping economic sanctions on Russia.
So it’s no wonder that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made 2017 the Year of Japan in Ukraine, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of bilateral relations.
Similar nations
Japanese people living in Ukraine have come to love their adopted country. Hiroshi Kataoka, a professor of Japanese at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, who has lived in Ukraine for 14 years, says he now feels at home here. He says that while all expatriates from Japan struggle to get used to the country and criticize it, they eventually fall in love with it.
“We love the nature, the food and the mentality of Ukrainians,” he said.
There are many elements of Japanese culture that Ukrainians encounter in ordinary life — sudoku, karaoke, origami, tea, sushi, kendo, sumo, aikido, and karate. They don’t see them as foreign anymore.
Year of Japan
Apart from trying to attract investment and advance visa liberalization, Ukrainian authorities plan to promote Japanese culture, traditions and customs this year.
The Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with National Art Museum of Ukraine, has already conducted numerous events, including exhibitions of Japanese engravings and origami, cultural lectures and Japanese language lessons.
The embassy has also started the 2,500 sakura, or cherry blossom, trees campaign. While the citizens of Kyiv and Uzhhorod enjoy the beauty of blooming sakura every spring, many other Ukrainians have never seen them. The project includes planting trees in 22 Ukrainian cities.
Higher priority
While Tokyo has become one of Ukraine’s most important and reliable strategic partners, it wasn’t always like this. Relations during much of the time of Ukraine’s nationhood could be described as stable, but inactive.
The Ukrainian authorities didn’t make the relationship a priority.
After the 2004 Orange Revolution, Japan financed a couple of projects, including the reconstruction of Kyiv Boryspil International Airport.
However, the partnership didn’t flourish, as Ukraine made little headway in democracy, rule of law and fighting corruption — values important to Japan, the world’s third largest economy and a member of the Group of Seven industrial democracies. Ex-President Viktor Yanukovych instead emphasized Ukraine’s relations with communist China.
There was also a scandal involving the misuse of 470 million euros given by Japan in 2009–2010 under the Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement. Ukraine was supposed to spend the funds on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, but failed to do so. According to a later agreement with Japan in 2015, Ukraine returned 2.5 million euros and reallocated the rest of the unused money to new projects.
After the EuroMaidan Revolution drove Yanukovych from power on Feb. 22, 2014, relations have become more active, thanks largely to Japan’s generosity and unwavering support for Ukraine.
