Aspects of the Emergence and Organisation of the Diaspora Life of Ukrainians in Japan

  • Post category:Issue XXV

Mykola Kulinich
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary PhD in History, Full Professor of the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of Law and International Relations at Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University;
Halyna Sahan
Doctor of History, Full Professor of the Department of World History of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University

DOI:

Abstract. The article describes the history of the establishment of the Ukrainian community in Japan and analyses the historical presence of Ukrainians in the territory of Japan or the territories it controlled. At the initial stage of the development of Japanese-Ukrainian relations in the early 1990s, the Japanese had a very limited understanding of Ukraine, its history and culture, so an analysis of the history of intercultural communication before 1991 explains why it was so difficult for the Ukrainian community in Japan to establish itself after the collapse of the USSR and the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence.
By analysing the origins of Ukrainian-Japanese communication, the author presents the important contribution of such personalities as Yosyp Hashkevych, Vasyl Yeroshenko, Ivan Svit, and others, as well as the history of cultural and social activism of Ukrainians in Japan and in the territories controlled by Japan throughout the first half of the 20th century.
The article points out that the evolution of Ukrainians abroad was a complex process in Japanese public life, and in particular in the establishment of ethnic identity, consolidation and structural institutionalisation of Ukrainian migrants in Japan who arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
The article also explores the changes in the fate of the Ukrainian community in Japan after russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. In particular, the Japanese and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora massively gathered in the streets to protest against russia’s military aggression and to provide humanitarian and other assistance. It is noted that Ukrainians in Japan actively contributed to the support and assistance to refugees from Ukraine, who sought refuge in the Land of the Rising Sun after russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In conclusion, the author points out that the historical experience of communication with Ukrainians contributed to the positive image of Ukrainians in Japanese society and politics and, accordingly, to the change in its migration legislation.
Keywords: Ukrainians in Japan, diaspora, Ukrainian-Japanese cooperation, Ukrainians in Manchuria, russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Download Article (ukr)

References:

  1. Troshchynskyi, V. and Shevchenko, A. (1999) Ukraintsi v sviti [Ukrainians in the world]. Kyiv: Alternatyvy, p. 313.
  2. Olifirenko, S. (2007) ‘Posibnyk “Slobozhanska khvylia” dlia shkoliariv-ukraintsiv i rosiian’ [Textbook ‘Slobozhan wave’ for Ukrainian and Russian school students], Problemy suchasnoho pidruchnyka serednoi i vyshchoi shkoly: zbirnyk naukovykh prats [Problems of modern textbook of secondary and higher school: a collection of scientific papers], 4, p. 15.
  3. Yefimova, V. (2020) ‘Do 130-richchia Vasylia Yeroshenka (1890-1952), pysmennyka-symvolista ukrainskoho pokhodzhennia, pedahoha, orhanizatora navchannia slipykh, muzykanta’, Pedagogical Museum of Ukraine, 10 January. Available at: http://pmu.in.ua/nogroup/eroshenko/
  4. Velyka ukrainska entsyklopediia (2020) Yeroshenko, Vasyl Yakovych. Available at: gov.ua/Єрошенко,_Василь_Якович
  5. Yefimova, V. Ibid.
  6. Olifirenko, S. Ibid. P. 15
  7. Sweet, J. V. (1972) Ukrainian-Japanese Relations 1903–1945. New York: Ukrainian Historical Society, p. 24.
  8. Chornomaz, V. (2011) Zelenyi Klyn. Entsyklopedychnyi dovidnyk [Green Ukraine. Encyclopaedic reference book], Vladivostok: Far Eastern Federal University Publishing House, p. 112.
  9. Komirenko, I. (2004) ‘Manchzhou-Ho’ [Manchukuo], in Huberskyi, L. et al. (eds.) Ukrainska dyplomatychna entsyklopediia: u 2 t. [Ukrainian diplomatic encyclopaedia: in 2 volumes]. 2nd vol. Kyiv: Znannia Ukrainy.
  10. Shevchenko, O. (2017) ‘Ukrainskyi Kharbin’, Ukrainian Association of Sinologists. Available at: https://sinologist.com.ua/shevchenko-o-m-ukrayinskyj-harbin/
  11. Konstantinova, N. (2021) ‘“Vony tvoryly Ukrainu v Azii”. Yak zhyla ukrainska diaspora na Dalekomu Skhodi na pochatku XX stolittia?’, Radio Svoboda, 22 December. Available at: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/yak-zhyla-ukrainska-diaspora-na-dalekomu-skhodi/31620705.html
  12. Brylynskyi, M. (1930) Prosvita na Dalekomu Skhodi. Kalendar Prosvity na rik 1931 [Prosvita in the Far East. Prosvita calendar for the year 1931]. Lviv, p. 149.
  13. Sweet, J. V. Ibid. P. 109.
  14. Ibid. P. 111.
  15. Ibid. P. 112.
  16. Marunchak, M. (1974) Ukraintsi v SSSR poza kordonamy URSR [Ukrainians in USSR Beyond the Borders of Ukrainian SSR]. Winnipeg: Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, p. 163.
  17. Popok, A. (2004) ‘Dalekoskhidni poselennia ukraintsiv’ [Far Eastern settlements of Ukrainians], in Smolii, V. et al. (eds.) Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy: T. 2 H–D [Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine: Volume 2]. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka. Available at: http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Dalekoskhidni_poselennya
  18. Sweet, J. V. (1936) Ukrainskyi Natsionalnyi dim u Kharbini [Ukrainian National House in Harbin]. Harbin: Ukrainian Press Association, pp. 75–76.
  19. Sweet, J. V. (1972) Ukrainian-Japanese Relations 1903–1945. New York: Ukrainian Historical Society, p. 156.
  20. Ibid. P. 153.
  21. Ibid. P. 164.
  22. Ibid. P. 187.
  23. Ibid. P. 195.
  24. Troshchynskyi, V. Ibid. P. 314. 
  25. Bilokin, S. (2009) ‘Levynskyi (Levinskyi) Stepan Ivanovych’, in Smolii, V. et al. (eds.) Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy: T. 6 La–Mi [Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine: Volume 6]. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka. Available at: http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Levinsky_S_I
  26. ‘Ukrainska hromada v Yaponii initsiiuvala stvorennia tserkvy i pidtrymuie yii sohodni’ (2020) Ukrinform, 10 July. Available at: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-diaspora/3060485-ukrainska-gromada-v-aponii-iniciuvala-stvorenna-cerkvi-i-pidtrimue-ii-sogodni-svasennik.html
  27. NPO Kraiany. Ukrainian Community in Japan (no date) Statut Asotsiatsii yaponsko-ukrainskoi druzhby ‘Kraiany’ [NPO Kraiany Bylaw]. Available at: https://www.kraiany.org/uk/bylaw.html
  28. Embassy of Ukraine in Japan (2023) Ukraintsi v Yaponii [Ukrainians in Japan]. Available at: https://japan.mfa.gov.ua/spivrobitnictvo/268-ukrajinci-u-japoniji
  29. NPO Kraiany. Ukrainian Community in Japan (no date) Statut Asotsiatsii yaponsko-ukrainskoi druzhby ‘Kraiany’ [NPO Kraiany Bylaw]. Available at: https://www.kraiany.org/uk/bylaw.html
  30. Ukrainska shkola ‘Dzhereltse’ [Ukrainian school Dzhereltse] (2015). Available at: http://dzherelce.github.io/
  31. Ukrainska nedilna shkola ‘Khrobachok’ [Ukrainian Sunday school Khrobachok] (2015). Available at: https://khrobachok.org/
  32. Martyniuk, A. (2022) ‘My vidpravlialy dvi tonny humanitarnoi dopomohy v Ukrainu. Yak volonteriat ukraintsi Yaponii’, City, 28 September. Available at: https://evacuation.city/articles/237842/mi-vidpravili-dvi-tonni-gumanitarnoi-dopomogi-v-ukrainu-yak-volonteryat-ukrainci-yaponii
  33. Ibid.
  34. Ibid.
  35. ‘Nashi krasuni tsoho tyzhnia prystupaiut do vykonannia svoikh oboviazkiv’ (2023) NPO Kraiany. Ukrainian Community in Japan, 8 June. Available at: https://www.kraiany.org/uk/news/2023-06-08-ambulance.html
  36. ‘Dvoie poranenykh viiskovykh prybuly do Yaponii dlia likuvannia’ (2023) NPO Kraiany. Ukrainian Community in Japan, 9 June. Available at: https://www.kraiany.org/uk/news/2023-06-09-rehabilitation.html
  37. Ibid.
  38. Japanese Ukrainian Culture Association (no date) Watashi tachi nitsuite. Available at: https://jp-ua.org/about-us/
  39. ‘U Yaponii diaspora provede blahodiinyi zakhid “Piznai Ukrainu”’ (2022) Ukrinform, 22 July. Available at: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-diaspora/3534563-u-aponii-diaspora-provede-blagodijnij-zahid-piznaj-ukrainu.html
  40. Japanese Ukrainian Culture Association NPO JUCA (2023) 10 lypnia 2023 r Yaponsko-ukrainskoiu kulturnoiu asotsiatsiieiu buly zakupleni ta peredani Zhytomyrskomu viiskovomu shpytaliu medykamenty na sumu 73791,10 hrn, shcho na den zakupivli stanovyly 283359 yaponskykh yen [Facebook] 11 July. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/dKjnSLEbbTektbs5/
  41. Japanese Ukrainian Culture Association NPO JUCA (2023) [Facebook] 4 September. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/dH-32QhH9ySqjJgVT/
  42. Japanese Ukrainian Culture Association NPO JUCA (2023) 10 veresnia Yaponsko-ukrainska kulturna asotsiatsiia pryiniala uchast v cherhovomu zakhodi z prodazhu ukrainskykh suveniriv ta vyrobiv, vyhotovlenykh tymchasovo evakuiovanymy ukraintsiamy [Facebook] 17 September. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/5JnzNvSR8rRWMFzB/