Assistance to displaced Ukrainians provided by Japanese companies

Even though more than one month has passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is still no prospect of the war ending. The endless war accumulates the Ukrainian people’s economic, physical, and psychological burden. According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 4 million refugees have left Ukraine by Mar. 29, and 13 million still remain in Ukraine.

The Government of Japan has announced that it will accept displaced persons as part of its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and 288 Ukrainians have been displaced by Mar. 27. Currently, Japanese companies provide various forms of assistance to displaced Ukrainians to realize the Government’s policy.

Provision of housing

Pan Pacific International Holdings Inc., which has a discount chain store, Don Quijote Co. Ltd., stated that it has decided to host 100 Ukrainian refugee families and will provide financial assistance, livelihood support, and employment opportunities.

Oak House Inc, the largest operator and manager of shared houses, has decided to provide a shared house fully furnished with furniture, appliances, and Wi-Fi, as well as support to help them adjust to life in Japan for one year for free. Additionally, bilingual staff with English language skills are also available to offer advice and support for living in the share house.

Not only companies but the local governments also started providing housing. The Tokyo Metropolitan and Osaka have prepared about 100 public housing units each. In Kanagawa Prefecture, in addition to about 120 units prepared by the prefecture, Yokohama City, a sister city of Odessa, will provide about 80 units, and Kawasaki City will provide about 20 units. Some local governments offer employment support consultations.

Crowdfunding to set up a system to host 70 students

Trustbank Inc. successfully conducted an emergency support project for the acceptance of displaced Ukrainian students to the Japan University of Economics through governmental crowdfunding for 15 days from Mar. 17.

They operate a crowdfunding-based tax payment system that allows donors to make donations to local authorities and receive tax refunds and credits. The money donated to Dazaifu City will be passed on to the Japan University of Economics, located in the city, to be used to host 70 refugee students from Ukraine.

Tool for Japanese companies to create business manuals to facilitate the employment of Ukrainians

ITP Inc. provides free tools for creating business manuals for companies and local authorities embracing Ukrainian refugees in Japan. The web-based system allows users to work while watching short video explanations of each procedure, reducing the time and effort required to teach and learn the work. The video explanations lower the language barrier and are expected to speed up the learning of tasks.

Free provision of language learning tools

Gakurin Inc. offers Japanese E-learning as a Japanese language learning tool. E-learning is available at various levels and allows students to learn Japanese conversation, grammar, and vocabulary, as well as Japanese culture and etiquette.

For Japanese people who are interested in Ukraine and want to help, Duolingo, Inc. has also launched a Japanese version of the Ukrainian Language Primer.

Need for support measures to encourage evacuation to Japan

The number of people evacuated from Ukraine to Japan is expected to continue increasing, and Japanese companies are likely to come up with various forms of assistance. However, financial concerns such as travel costs and medical insurance and concerns about work and children’s education due to the language barrier make evacuation to Japan unrealistic for many Ukrainians.

The Government of Japan sent Foreign Minister to Poland on Apr. 1 and is considering to bring the desired evacuees on board a government aircraft when returning to Japan. The Nippon Foundation also announced that it would provide humanitarian assistance of 5 billion yen to Ukrainian refugees who wish to visit Japan, including travel expenses and subsidies for living expenses for three years. There is an increasing need for comprehensive support to lower travel hurdles.