A restaurant in a city east of Tokyo run by a Russian mother and daughter is planning to hire evacuees from Ukraine as a way to help people get back on their feet and express opposition to the war there.
Anastasia and Daiana Stetsyuk, aged 40 and 20 respectively, operate Russian restaurant Matreshka, which opened four years ago in the city of Chiba and serves home cuisine including borscht.
"Although (the evacuees) may be still feeling anxious after coming to Japan, we'd like to do whatever we can to help," said Daiana, whose mother was born in the populous city of Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East and came to Japan for work 20 years ago.
Anastasia's father is Ukrainian and she has relatives and friends in the country, which has been under attack by Russia since February.
After the Russian invasion began, she spent days in shock. When she learned evacuees were coming to Japan in around late March, she began making calls to hire them on the restaurant's social media accounts.
So far they have had exchanges with more than 10 people and directly met four about potential work, with most of them women in their 30s or 40s. Among them were individuals in Japan for the first time and those who have lost people to the invasion.
"We avoided touching on painful subjects, and gave them positive information about what kind of support they can get," Daiana said.
Individuals working in the kitchen need no Japanese ability. If issues including those concerning working visas can be cleared, they intend to hire as many people as they can.
The restaurant also sells bento lunch boxes at supermarkets and runs a food truck.
On social media, Daiana has been subject to messages written in Japanese telling her to "go back to Russia," but as she has continued to put out messages of support, so too has she received words of encouragement.
Although Daiana was advised by relatives in Russia to refrain from making statements for fear she would attract the authorities' attention, she remains passionate. "It's a situation where we don't know if Ukrainian people can survive. I have to do what I can now."
Related coverage:
Japan mulls "quasi-refugee" status for people fleeing conflicts
Japan firm donates 1,000 interpreting devices to help Ukrainian evacuees
Russian wayfinding sign at station in Tokyo uncovered after criticism
