Keiichi Kurogi become one in all dozens of guys in Japan who provided to enroll in an “worldwide legion” to combat Russian invaders after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy known as for volunteers.
Kurogi, a 39-year-vintage workplace employee who lives in southwestern Japan, advised Reuters he rang the Ukrainian embassy on Monday after seeing its plea for volunteers on Twitter.
“When I noticed snap shots of aged ladies and men in Ukraine conserving weapons and going to the front, I felt I ought to move of their place,” he stated.
The embassy declined Kurogi’s provide to combat, telling him that he lacked the essential navy revel in.
As of Tuesday, 70 Japanese men – inclusive of 50 former contributors of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and veterans of the French Foreign Legion – had carried out to be volunteers, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper stated, quoting a Tokyo business enterprise dealing with the volunteers.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Embassy recounted receiving calls from humans “trying to combat for Ukraine,” however declined to present in addition details.
A February 28 social media publish from the embassy thanked Japanese for his or her many inquiries approximately volunteering however brought a proviso.
“Any applicants for this ought to have revel in in Japan’s Self-Defence Forces or have gone through specialized training,” it stated.
In a brand new publish on Twitter on Wednesday, the Ukrainian embassy in Japan stated it become seeking out volunteers with medical, IT, communication, or firefighting revel in. It become now no longer straight away clean if the volunteer positions have been far off or worried touring to Ukraine.
Japan has advised its nationals to eliminate tour to Ukraine for any reason, a caution reiterated on Wednesday via way of means of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who stated he become privy to the reviews approximately the volunteers.
“The Japanese overseas ministry has issued an evacuation advisory for all of Ukraine and we need humans to prevent all tour to Ukraine, irrespective of the reason in their visit,” he advised a information conference.
“We are speaking with the Ukrainian embassy in Japan and talked about that an evacuation advisory is in place.”
Japan stated on Wednesday it’d quickly near its embassy in Kyiv given growing risks withinside the capital.
JAPAN GIVES
The strugglefare in Ukraine has stirred robust feelings in Japan, which has a publish–strugglefare pacifist charter that has been reinterpreted in latest years to permit Japan to workout collective self-protection or resource allies beneathneath attack.
Hundreds amassed for a protest towards the Russian invasion closing week in Tokyo, even as the Ukrainian embassy stated it collected $17 million in donations from a few 60,000 humans in Japan after it positioned out a web request for help.
One of them become Ryoga Seki, a 23-year-vintage reading pc technological know-how at a graduate college in Osaka, who donated a whole month’s wages from his part-time tutoring job – 100,000 yen ($868) – to Ukraine.
“There are many humans here, like me, who need to do some thing however cannot circulate round proper now,” he stated, including that it become his first-ever primary donation and the most quantity he ought to switch at one time from his bank.
As for Kurogi, he’s adamant that he might volunteer once more if Ukraine modified its requirements.
“I’m from a era that doesn’t recognize strugglefare at all,” he stated. “It’s now no longer that I need to visit a strugglefare, it is extra that I might instead move than see kids pressured to hold weapons.”