Photo/Illutration Asami Terajima, a Japanese reporter for the Kyiv Independent, an English-language media outlet, in Ukraine on Feb. 21 (Hiroki Endo)

KYIV--Having spent half of her life in Kyiv, a 21-year-old Japanese journalist vowed to stick it out in the capital of Ukraine to report on Russia’s invasion that is now unfolding in spite of warnings from the international community of dire consequences.

Asami Terajima has worked in English-language media, The Kyiv Independent, here since last spring. She is one of 120 Japanese living in Ukraine.

“My grandparents back in Japan are concerned about me, but I am determined to continue reporting as a journalist working in the local media,” she said in an interview on Feb. 21.

The native of Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, ended up in Ukraine, some 8,000 kilometers from Japan, because her family relocated there after her father was assigned to an affiliate of a Japanese company. 

Her life since then has revolved around Kyiv, except for when she studied in the United States.

Terajima said alarm bells started ringing among Ukrainians after Washington in late January issued an order for families of the staff of the U.S. Embassy to leave the country and urged U.S. expatriates to evacuate.

Tensions heightened after the United States ordered U.S. citizens in mid-February to evacuate within 48 hours.

She said the reaction among residents in Kyiv was, “How about us?” 

“We have families and pets living us and friends in this country,” Terajima said. “We have no choice but to continue with our daily lives.”

She also noted that Ukrainians tend to be stoic in the face of repeated conflict during the eight years since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Terajima also cited burgeoning patriotism in Ukraine, a former Soviet bloc country that achieved independence only about 30 years ago, as another factor.

Speaking to The Asahi Shimbun just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin followed through on his threat to invade, Terajima said city residents are naturally concerned but that no one she knew had fled the capital.

She expressed fears about the emotional toll on Ukrainians if tensions remain at a high level for a prolonged period.

Inevitably, residents will become emotionally distressed as they try to live as normally as possible under such trying circumstances, she said.

Terajima added that the withdrawal of foreign companies and a plunge in foreign investment in Ukraine would deliver a serious blow to the economy.

Her parents moved to neighboring Poland early this month after her father’s company ordered its employees to flee to safety.

But for now, Terajima said she is not thinking about leaving Kyiv.

In her job as a reporter, Terajima has written about how cyberattacks against Ukraine impacted ordinary people. She has also written stories based on interviews with foreign expatriates who opted to stay behind.

She said her parents respect her decision to remain in Ukraine and continue with her job.

Another Japanese woman who has lived in Kyiv for more than 15 years also said she had no plans to leave any time soon.

The 39-year-old said the situation was made more difficult by the fact she has made a life in Ukraine with her husband, who is not a Japanese, and they have children.

Leaving would entail her husband leaving his workplace and the couple’s children quitting school, uprooting all their lives, even if only temporarily.

“Not many people are scrambling to stockpile food or fleeing Kyiv,” she said.

That said, she added that Ukrainians were taking Russia’s threat of invasion seriously.

“People are living each day with great anxiety. They are carefully weighing the option of evacuation, to where and when, and the price it will have on their lives while trying to figure out how realistic an attack on Kyiv is.”

As far as she knew, no Japanese stayed in Ukraine in the belief they will be safe here.

“They must be living in this country under great distress while comparing the threat of war with the possible loss of the foundation of their lives if they evacuate,” she said.

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