So where do Japanese living in Kyiv go when they want authentic Japanese sushi?
Considering the extensive Japanese influence on Ukraine, from popular sushi restaurants to imported cars, the head count of expatriates from The Land of the Rising Sun may come as a surprise. There are only 200 Japanese nationals living in Ukraine, according to the Japanese Embassy.
But perhaps the powerful influence of so few Japanese isn’t all that surprising, considering that they come from an industrious nation that only ranks 10th in population, yet has the world’s third largest economy.
Who are the Japanese here? The community includes businesspeople, diplomats, students and researchers. Many favor tennis for recreation. And where do Japanese go for sushi, which has become almost a craze in Kyiv? Almost unanimously, they favor San Tori restaurant as “one of few authentic Japanese cuisine outlets in Ukraine.”
Beyond the community’s exceptional features, however, Japanese in Ukraine confront the same problems as many other expatriates. They struggle with vague and changing Ukrainian rules. They find it strange to be yelled at by supermarket staff and cheated in taxes.
However, like many other expatriates, they easily find the beauty in Ukraine: They are fascinated with Ukrainian art and they regard the nation of 46 million people as having enormous potential. And those who know or study both nations can even find similarities.
“Japan and Ukraine both adopted religion, writing and art from other nations. Both had a special armed formation, which became a layer of society: samurai in Japan and kozaks in Ukraine,” said Ivan Bondarenko, the dean of Chinese, Japanese and Korean philology department at Taras Shevchenko University. “We both have a cult of poetry and cherry trees. And we are the only two nations who suffered nuclear tragedy,” he said, referring to the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan to end World War II in 1945 and the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
Exploring horizons
Izawa Tadashi, Japan’s ambassador in Ukraine, said that investors from his country “enter the market with a long-term prospective. However, before entering, they study the country… very long and very carefully.”
That may explain why there are only 28 registered Japanese companies in Ukraine. But they have a large reach. The businesses are engaged in importing Japanese automobiles, helping Ukraine develop energy-saving and environmentally conscious technologies and producing cigarettes at the large Japan Tobacco International factory in Kremenchug.
The two nations seem to have great potential for wide-scale use of energy-saving technologies. Japan has developed them, since it is almost 100 percent reliant on foreign energy supplies. And Ukraine needs them, since it uses energy inefficiently.
Within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming, Japan has purchased 30 million tons of emission gas quotas from Ukraine through 2009-2010. Ukraine is supposed to use the money to implement environmental and energy-saving projects.
Any project involving the Ukrainian government is destined for slow progress – and the economic crisis has slowed action even further.
“Cooperation with the private sector in Ukraine is always very clear. Negotiations with the public sector can take years,” said Shiro Nishioka, general manager of the Kyiv office for Sumitomo Corporation, which – together with Ukrainian subsidiaries Toyota Ukraine, SumiTec and Sumi Agro – reached $700 million turnover in 2009.
“We had presented detailed projects on energy saving cooperation at the Cabinet of Ministers last year,” Nishioka said. “We still have not reached a single agreement. We hope with a new president bringing stability that we can actively proceed with projects.”
Sumitomo Corporation and another Japanese giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have supplied energy-saving power equipment to the Industrial Union of Donbas, the steel group owned by Ukrainian billionaire Serhiy Taruta along with Russian partners.
Another business giant – Mitsubishi Corporation, with two independent subsidiaries in Ukraine such as Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries – is also exploring business horizons in the nation.
“We are seriously considering exporting grain from Ukraine to other countries, as the Ukrainian potential in the agricultural field is enormous,” said Yuji Otsuku, general manager of the Kyiv office of Mitsubishi Corporation. “I feel comfortable in Ukraine. Ukrainians generally have a positive image of Japan and our people. And it’s our task is to maintain this image.”
Aside from participating in energy-saving projects, importing textiles, tires and chemicals to Ukraine, Mitsubishi also strongly supports Japanese language studies.
“We have received educational literature, equipment and started Japanese language courses, not only for university students, thanks to a $50,000 grant from Mitsubishi Corporation,” said Ivan Bondarenko, dean at the National Taras Shevchenko University.
Unlucky in Ukraine
Hiroyuki Egawa, a Japanese language professor at Shevchenko University, seems to have encountered many of the possible pitfalls in his 20 years in Ukraine.
Egawa has suffered street crime. He lost all his savings in the notorious Elita-Center scam, a multi-million dollar ripoff that claimed more than 1,500 victims who bought non-existent properties. He also deposited money into Nadra Bank, which is now run under government supervision because it has been unable to pay its depositors back. Arrest warrants have been issued for fugitive ex-top officials of the bank for allegedly stealing bank assets.
Egawa is trying to get his money back from both places. “I can quit at any moment, but I have a responsibility to my children,” Egawa said.
He’s also been robbed in less sophisticated – and more violent – ways. In December 2007, while returning home from a night class that he was teaching at the Ukraine-Japan Center, street thugs attacked him.
But Egawa is planning to stay in Ukraine. He has a Ukrainian wife and two children. The family, he said, would find it difficult to return to Japan.
So he remains in what he calls a paradoxical nation. “I admire Ukrainians make room for my children [to sit] in the metro,” Egawa said. “But in five minutes the same people will push you away at the escalator.”
But, for some reason, he finds Ukraine’s hardships and contradictions to be genuine reflections of life.
“Ukraine is more real,” he said. “In Japan there are many illusions. There is a sword above your head and thin ice under your feet, no matter where you live. In Ukraine you at least realize it.”
Training Ukrainians
Japanese are keen not only on helping Ukraine to develop technologies, but also human resources. Ukraine-Japan Center – located at Kyiv Polytechnic University – partially sponsors business training trips to Japan and offers business courses in Ukraine.
“For example, Ukrainians produce furniture of exceptional quality. However, they do not know how to market it abroad, what designs are the best for Europe or Asia,” said Reiko Otoguro, an expert on project management with the Ukraine-Japan Center. “We are trying to share our experience through such trainings.”
Some 30,000 Ukrainians participated in activities of the Ukraine-Japan Center last year, such as business trainings, language courses, Japanese library services and cultural events.
Mizuho Furukawa, the project coordinator at Ukraine-Japan Center, said she is on a personal mission to give Ukrainians different perspectives. “The person can understand his place in the world only by realizing and accepting that someone may act, think and perceive differently,” Furukawa said.
Japan at a glance:
Population: 127 million people
Official language: Japanese
Religion: Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism
Per capita gross domestic product (purchasing power parity): $32,600
GDP (PPP): $4.1 trillion
Life expectancy: 82 years
Useful links:
Embassy of Japan in Ukraine:
Ukraine Business Centre Europe
4 Muzeyny Lane
Phone: +380-44-490-5500
Ukraine-Japan Center at Kyiv Polytechnic University
Prospekt Peremohy
Library NTUU «KPI»
4th fl. Kyiv, 03056 UkrainePhone: +380-44-406-8166
Japanese page on Ukrainian web: everything about Japan in Ukraine
http://www.japanese-page.kiev.ua/
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Bugayova can be reached at [email protected].
Read also ‘‘Japanese ambassador: ‘It’s a pity’ Ukraine does not always follow fair trade rules“ by Nataliya Bugayova.
