Restaurants run by Ukrainian evacuees who fled the Russian invasion are sprouting up around Japan.
With two and a half years having passed since the war started, evacuees seeking stable employment and economic independence are serving up their signature home-style cuisine while resigning themselves to the long haul in their host country.
The displaced Ukrainians are determined to turn their new eateries into local "hubs of exchange" as the war back continues unabated, but they are struggling to learn Japanese.
In mid-July, four Ukrainian employees who fled their home country were peeling carrots and chopping onions in a kitchen at a Ukrainian restaurant in Nagoya. Occasionally, they relaxed their earnest expressions and spoke in their native tongue.
The restaurant, Zhyto, which opened in May and means "rye" in English, employs 16 Ukrainian evacuees. "I am happy that my customers are happy with my cooking," said Olef Mokrytskyi, 19, from the western city of Lviv.
He had searched for other jobs but gave up due to the language barrier. Mokrytskyi intends to work at the restaurant for now, but his dream is to study at a culinary school in Japan.
According to the Japanese government, as of the end of July, approximately 2,000 displaced Ukrainians were living in Japan. Last year, the government introduced a system to grant permanent residency status to people fleeing conflict zones in view of their prolonged stays here.
However, living expense benefits from major aid organizations are expected to expire from next spring and beyond.
While a sense of crisis spreads, there are many displaced people who cannot work even if they want because of difficulties in learning Japanese, according to the Japanese Ukrainian Culture Association, a nonprofit organization in Nagoya.
In March and April, the Nippon Foundation conducted a survey of some 1,160 Ukrainian evacuees over the age of 18 who were receiving support from the nonprofit organization, with a total of 71 percent of respondents saying they "cannot understand Japanese at all" or "can only understand" simple Japanese phrases.
Against this backdrop, the association worked hard to open Zhyto and secure employment for Ukrainian evacuees. Lyudmyla Kawaguchi, 44, chair of the nonprofit, said, "The evacuees who work (at Zhyto) are family. We want to make it a place where everyone can enjoy working."
Similarly, restaurants that employ Ukrainian evacuees have sprung up in Tokyo, Osaka and other cities, including one in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, which opened in April. At a social function held in that city in mid-June, attendees enjoyed borscht, pirozhki and other Ukrainian dishes.
Yana Ono, 42, of Beautiful World, an NPO in Beppu that operates the restaurant, said it is important to create the presence of a "new tourist spot" in the city -- one of Japan's leading hot spring resorts -- considering that most evacuees are here for the foreseeable future.
Ono stressed, "We want to create a place where local residents and tourists can interact with each other, not only through food but also through workshops on traditional crafts and other activities to promote Ukrainian culture."
In an effort to find a larger space, they are actively working to secure a new property.
