More Than 60% of Japanese Youths Interested in Ukrainian Situation, Roughly 10% Made Donations: Poll

Degree of Japanese youths’ interest in the situation in Ukraine:

According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the number of Ukrainians who fled their war-torn country to Japan came to 1,775 as of August 21. With some having returned home since, 1,708 Ukrainian evacuees reside in 45 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

Based on our judgement that more applications for assistance are expected to come from displaced Ukrainians, The Nippon Foundation decided on July 29 to double the number of evacuees it supports with humanitarian assistance from the initial 1,000 to 2,000.

Against this background, the foundation conducted a survey on the “Situation in Ukraine” from July 12 to 14 to look into young people’s attitudes toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and actions the Japanese government has taken in response to the conflict.

The online poll, covering 1,000 Japanese aged between 17 and 19 across the country, found that six in 10 respondents (61.0%) are either very or somewhat interested in the situation in Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. Males who are very interested stood at 21.2%, or 7.2 percentage points more than females (14.0%).

Asked about what actions they have taken to support Ukrainians, more than one in 10 (12.1%) have made donations, while one in 20 engaged in volunteer activities in countries neighboring Ukraine and Japan (5.7%) and interacted with evacuees in Japan (5.3%).

Regarding measures the Japanese government has taken in response to the Ukrainian crisis, more than half (57.6%) supported Tokyo’s assistance for Ukraine, while more than one third (36.3%) approved of its sanctions against Russia. I believe these figures indicate how critical Japanese youths are about Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine.

Regarding possible impacts of the Ukrainian situation on Japan, the top concerns were adverse effects on the economy (56.8% of all respondents), an increase in the number of evacuees or refugees (55.1%), and an energy security crisis (52.5%). Nearly half (44.6%) are worried about possible military action against Japan by Russia.

More than 60% (62.4%) were in favor of Japan accepting Ukrainian evacuees with 10.0% against. Almost half (49.4%) are for accepting refugees from the rest of the world, including Ukraine, compared to 16.4% against. (A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.)

In particular, more than one in four females (27.8%) think Japan is not doing enough in accepting Ukrainian evacuees, well above males (24.0%).

About sources of information they get on the Ukrainian situation, two in three (67.2%) cited television programs, followed by Twitter (49.3%), news sites (45.3%), internet searches (43.8%), YouTube (33.3%), Line news (25.9%) and newspapers (21.4%).

According to another survey of 260 Ukrainians who have evacuated to Japan and applied for the foundation’s assistance, 65.1% of respondents hoped to stay in Japan for an extended period or until the situation in their country calms down.

Asked to select the five most important needs they have or services they require, Japanese language education (65.8%) topped the list, followed by employment opportunities and training (55.8%), medical care (51.5%), a contact that they can consult with at any time (38.8%), and an ability to make Japanese friends (37.3%).

Upon arrival in Japan, Ukrainian evacuees receive 90-day temporary visitor visas. But almost 90% of them apply to upgrade these to “designated activities” visas affording a year's residence and work eligibility.

Given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bellicose stance, the conflict appears likely to continue for some time to come. As long as the war drags on, the evacuees, mostly women and children, would not be able to return to their home country and we have to help them find ways to be self-reliant economically.

The findings of the surveys demonstrated a clear need to do more to assist Ukrainian evacuees while regularly checking in to see how they feel about living in Japan and responding accordingly.
 

Desire to take action and actions taken regarding the situation in Ukraine:

*Note: For this survey, “Donation” is defined as (1) A monetary donation made via a supporting organization, company, etc.; (2) A donation via crowdfunding; (3) A direct monetary donation to a person or people in Ukraine; and (4) A purchase of charity merchandise.

Possibility of various threats related to the situation in Ukraine materializing: