The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
Lawmakers stress need for humanitarian aid for Ukraine
Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties stressed the need for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine on March 23, following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s online address to the Diet. More than 500 lawmakers, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, listened to Zelenskyy’s livestreamed speech in the international conference room and the multipurpose hall in a Diet members’ o ce building of the House of Representatives. Simultaneous interpretation into Japanese was provided by sta of the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan.
House of Councillors Speaker Akiko Santo dressed in blue and yellow in honor of the Ukrainian national ag. Santo condemned the Russian invasion and expressed solidarity with Ukraine a er the president’s address, saying, “Our country and Ukraine have always been of one mind.”
Ruling and opposition party representatives also showed their support.
Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi told reporters, “I was struck by [Zelenskyy’s] poignant appeal amid the invasion. We need to extend our hand.”
Japan Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii said the president’s address “conveyed his strong determination to defend the independence of his country, and his deep anger regarding the invasion and war crimes.”
Zelenskyy asked in his speech for Japan to continue implementing sanctions against Russia, and many lawmakers called for the measures to be strengthened.
“I think there may be a way to further broaden the scope of sanctions,” said Sanae Takaichi, chair of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council. Democratic Party For the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki referred to restrictions on trade with Russia at a party meeting, saying, “[We must] consider further intensifying pressure and sanctions.”
The government has imposed restrictions on semiconductor exports and frozen the assets of Russian government o cials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, in cooperation with the United States and other nations. It has also pledged an emergency humanitarian aid package worth $100 million (about ¥12 billion) primarily for Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi listened to the speech in the front row of the main venue. He told reporters, “We will work closely with the Group of Seven nations and other countries to respond rmly to the situation, including implementing sanctions and taking in displaced people.”
SUPPORT, SYMPATHY IN JAPAN
Following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s online speech to the Diet March 23 about the devastating situation in his country, there was a wave of sympathy and support for the plight of Ukrainians and indignation at Russia’s aggression.
“Russian troops destroyed dozens of our cities ... ousands were killed,” Zelenskyy said in his address.
In his message from war-torn Ukraine, Zelenskyy said: “I’m sure you understand this feeling ... e need to return to your land,” which resonated with a former resident of Japan’s northern territories — which are illegally occupied by Russia.
Yasuji Tsunoka, who le his hometown of Yuri Island — part of the Habomai group of islets — in April 1946 following the arrival of troops from the former Soviet Union, expressed sympathy a er watching Zelenskyy’s speech on television at home.
“Russia, who has not agreed to return the northern territories to Japan, has invaded Ukraine, too. I’m surprised and infuriated,” said Tsunoka, 84.
In the 12-minute address, Zelenskyy also described Russian attacks on nuclear power plants that have turned these facilities into war zones.
Kunihiko Sakuma, 77, who was exposed to radiation in the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, said the con ict has reminded him that the threat of nuclear war is real.
“We must not let Ukraine become the third place to be devastated by nuclear warfare,” said Sakuma, who chairs a Hiroshima group of atomic bomb survivors.
In Yokohama, a sister city of Odessa in southern Ukraine, people who had exchanges with Odessans listened intently to Zelenskyy’s address, in which he described children becoming victims of the war.
Yokohama Judo Association President Tsuneo Suzuki, who participated in an online exchange with an Odessa judo club in November, said Ukrainian children energetically practiced as he and two other association members demonstrated techniques.
“I very much hope they are safe,” said Suzuki, 66.
(Published in print on March 25)