Home --- Topics --- June 2024, Part 3: About the Ukrainian restaurant "Zhyto"
The Ukrainian restaurant "Zhyto" is run by the Nagoya-based NPO Japan-Ukrainian Cultural Association. Its purpose is to serve Ukrainian food prepared by Ukrainians, to introduce Ukrainian culture to Japan, and to provide a place for Ukrainian refugees to work.
The Ukrainian restaurant "Zhyto", which opened in May at Wink Aichi near Nagoya Station, is run by the NPO Japan Ukrainian Cultural Association (JUCA), which was established in 2018. Both the chairman and vice-chairman of JUCA are Ukrainians from Zhytomyr.
This is the first authentic Ukrainian restaurant to open in Nagoya. They opened Zhyto in order to let the people of Nagoya taste authentic Ukrainian cuisine made by Ukrainians, and to let more people know about Ukrainian culture. In addition, Zhyto has another big purpose.
The goal is to enable Ukrainian refugees to work and live independently, and to create an environment for this.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, many Ukrainians have fled the country. Some of the Ukrainians who have fled to Japan have the skills to work immediately, but many have difficulty finding work due to language barriers and other factors.
So JUCA, which had been providing support to Ukrainian refugees, decided to set up a restaurant to provide a place where Ukrainians who could not communicate well in Japanese could work. They worked in the restaurant kitchen, occasionally serving customers, and at the same time learned Japanese.
More than two years have passed since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian refugees are grateful to Japan and are trying to pull themselves together and walk the path to independence.
Why not visit the Ukrainian restaurant "Zhyto" and try the homemade food made by Ukrainians?
[Crowdfunding recruitment page]
We have begun crowdfunding to celebrate the opening. We aim to employ Ukrainian refugees and promote traditional, nutritious and healthy culinary culture. We appreciate your cooperation.
Building a bridge between cultures with heartwarming food and smiles. Ukrainian restaurant "Zhyto" opens at Wink Aichi in Nagoya! | Local Crowdfunding OCOS (in Japanese)
