Today, the Permanent Representative held a meeting with a business delegation from Japan. They also met with Okabe Yoshihiko, a Japanese Ukrainian scholar with a Ph.D. in Economics and History, who is a Professor at Kobe Gakuin University and the President of the Japanese Association of Ukrainian Studies. Additionally, Okabe Yoshihiko will serve as the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Kobe, Japan, starting in October.

The delegation also included representatives of the Japanese company Rising Sun Security Service, whose CEO is Yagi Hitoshi, who also visited the Mission’s office today. This is the first delegation of Japanese business to visit Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and it is aimed at further involvement in the process of restoration of our country.

The Permanent Representative took the opportunity to express her gratitude to Japan for its political, financial, and humanitarian support to Ukraine.

During the meeting, the Permanent Representative described the current situation in the occupied Crimea, including the military sphere. Special emphasis was placed on the peculiarities of the de-occupation and reintegration policy, as well as on the potential for exchange of experience in these processes between Ukraine and Japan.

The Permanent Representative emphasized that Ukraine and Japan have a lot in common, as the Japanese Northern Territories were occupied by the same state that occupied Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 and many other territories.

The Deputy Permanent Representative emphasized that addressing complex issues in education requires a comprehensive state policy. This includes developing educational programs to bridge academic gaps, finding new ways to communicate and share information with children and their parents in the occupied territories, determining approaches to recognize residents’ educational achievements, and creating opportunities for learning Ukrainian and indigenous languages.