Hello friends, Atsuko here sharing a Kumanichi post about our neighbors. The war is not happening somewhere far away, but right next door. No war. No hate. Be kind to everyone! ╰(´︶`)╯
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun | March 04, 2022 11:41 https://kumanichi.com/articles/577013 Hidetaka Tsuji (left) and his second son Yusei. The photo on the tablet is his wife Valeria. 3 March, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Boy who evacuated to Kumamoto City wants to see his mom in Ukraine Attacks “sad’' Just before the Russian invasion, a young boy left his mother in Ukraine and took refuge with his father in Kumamoto. Yusei is the second son of Hidetaka Tsuji, 52, a sports instructor in Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City. He said, “It is sad that my favorite country, Ukraine, is under attack. I want to see my mom.” He is heartbroken by the devastation in the region.
Yusei is a family of four: Tsuji, his Ukrainian mother Valeria (44), and older brother Yusuke (16). Valeria moved to Dnipro, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, with her two sons in 2015 to obtain a certificate to teach rhythmic gymnastics and to take care of their mother. After Yusuke returned to Kumamoto in 2007 to prepare for his high school entrance exams, the father and sons began to live separately.
Amid rising tensions with Russia, Mr. Tsuchi left Japan on February 17 and met Valeria at Warsaw Airport in Poland to pick up Yusei. Not expecting an actual war to break out, Valeria returned to Ukraine, but Russia launched an invasion on February 24. In retrospect, it was a hair’s breadth away.
Mr. Tsuchi said, “I hadn’t been able to see him in Corona, and my second son was just returning home temporarily. My wife said, ‘He will come to Japan to pick us up in a month or two,’ but I never thought Putin would actually start a war…” Mr. Tsuchi said. Yusei said his friend asked him to buy some Japanese souvenirs.
Now that the war has started, he communicates with Valeria by videophone. Dnipro said that fighter jets fly overhead and sirens sound two or three times in the middle of the night, and each time they are evacuated to the basement of their apartment building. Valeria is concerned about how this war is being reported in Japan because of the media coverage that justifies Russia.
The Ukrainian people are always cheerful and kind,” Yusei said, adding that on the first day he sent photos and videos of the Kumamoto Castle keep lit up in the same colors as the Ukrainian flag to Valeria and his own friends, who were delighted.
Mr. Tsuchi said, “I hope the senseless war will stop soon. The best weapon is SNS (member exchange website). I hope that many people will take an interest and send the message that Russia is wrong,” he added emphatically.