photo by Ekaterina Didkovskaya
It has been nearly 2 months since Russia started invading Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine is still tense with no sign of settlement. The Japanese government announced that Japan would accept evacuees from Ukraine and local governments have been preparing a supporting system including consultation for evacuees and partnership with local enterprises. In addition, there are a few non-government organizations that offer support for Ukrainian evacuees.
Support 21
Support 21 is an organization that supports refugees who reside in Japan, returnees from China, and Japanese descendants with long-term resident status to live independently in Japan, providing consultation on everyday life, language support, and other learning support. It offers similar support for Ukrainian evacuees who fled from the country as well. Also, it provides stop-gap funds for Ukrainian evacuees who have no family or relatives to support them in Japan until they are connected to the government’s support. In its language support, volunteers help learners study Japanese.
Support 21
Address：6F, 2-12-2 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
TEL：03-5449-1331
Email：info@support.or.jp
WJUA
This group was formed by volunteer business owners in Osaka to support Ukrainian evacuees. They help Ukrainian evacuees travel to Japan, obtain a Japanese visa, stay in temporary accommodation, and live in Japan for 1-3 months. The temporary accommodation is located in Osaka. Their website is written in both Japanese and Ukrainian, and they respond to inquiries in Ukrainian via email.
WJUA
TEL：＋81 70 2636 2844
Email：jp.ukr.assist@gmail.com
Japan Federation of Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialists Associations
Recognizing those who come to Japan for evacuation from Ukraine as “evacuees”, the Japanese government has announced that Japan would provide various support for them. These evacuees will have a temporary visitor visa first, then will be able to change it to a designated activity visa if necessary. However, handling visa application procedures may be too complicated for people who don’t understand Japanese. The Japan Federation of Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialists Associations has opened a free consultation phone number in order to support those evacuees. Certified administrative scriveners, who are certified to prepare and handle documents to submit to governments and official bodies, will give evacuees proper advice on their visas.
Japan Federation of Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialists Associations
Address：10F, 4-1-28 Toranomon, Minato-ku Tokyo
TEL (Free consultation)：03-6435-7330（until 04/20/2022）,03-6822-2178 (from 04/21/2022)
Email：gyoumu3@staff.gyosei.or.jp
Japanese Language School Association
Is it said that most Ukrainian evacuees who come to Japan don’t understand Japanese at all. They are assumed to stay in Japan for a long time, therefore they need to learn Japanese as much as possible. While local governments in Japan also provide consultation on learning Japanese, the Japanese Language School Association, which has over 200 member schools, offers free language lessons as more detailed support for Ukrainian evacuees. They have 15 member schools that have volunteered to provide free lessons.
Japanese Language School Association
TEL：03-3292-3232
Email：info@jalsa.tokyo
Unite for Ukraine
Most Ukrainian evacuees come to Japan counting on their relatives who already reside in Japan, but some have no relatives to support them in Japan. Also, most of them don’t know much about Japanese and don’t have much money on them. As well as local governments, non-government organizations are preparing support for Ukrainian evacuees. If you need support to come to Japan for evacuation or want to bring over someone from Ukraine, contact these groups or tell your friend or family about these groups.
