TOKYO: Ukrainians running a restaurant in Tokyo have expressed hopes that Japan will not forget about their country, almost two years after the start of Russia’s invasion of the East European nation.

Viktoriia Bogdanova, 30, and her family operate the Babusya Rey restaurant serving Ukrainian cuisine near Kichijoji Station on the Chuo Line of East Japan Railway Co., or JR East.

Bogdanova, who came to Japan in 2015 to study Japanese, accepted five relatives, including her parents and members of her sister’s family, to the Asian country in 2022, after the fighting intensified in Ukraine.

She opened the restaurant in April 2022 to help her family members, who had been receiving public support for housing and living expenses since they arrived in Japan, live independently.

The restaurant, which has counter seats for eight people, is often full thanks to the popularity of chicken Kyiv and “varenyky” dumplings cooked by Bogdanova’s parents.

“Some people said they visited (the restaurant) after watching news” related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Miya Krotik, 19, a part-time staff worker who came to Japan after the start of the aggression, said in Japanese.

Bogdanova’s parents have grown accustomed to life in a foreign country, where they take Japanese lessons and cook dishes of their homeland. Still, her father constantly checks Ukraine-related news and says that he wants to go back to the country as soon as the war is over.

Bogdanova’s grandmother died earlier this month in Ukraine, but the family was unable to attend her funeral.

Many Ukrainians who fled to Japan face difficulties finding jobs. Bogdanova said in Japanese that her dream is to “open a big restaurant,” adding that she wants to “give jobs to Ukrainians” if she can afford to do that.

“I hope people (in Japan) think about Ukraine without forgetting about the country,” Krotik said. “I want them to learn about (Ukrainian) culture and lend a helping hand to evacuees (from the country).”

JIJI Press