News Japanese tourist stays in Kharkiv to help

[thomas]

I'm surprised the Japanese media haven't picked up this story yet: Tsuchiko Fuminori, a 75-year-old Japanese tourist, was travelling through Poland when the war in Ukraine started. He then decided to move there to help the people in Kharkiv rather than return to Japan. During the attacks on the city, he lived in the subway and prepared food for those in need. He now raises funds to buy food and toys for the residents.

AFP Youtube link

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Hats off to Tsuchiko-san.

 

[Master of Time]

I'm surprised the Japanese media haven't picked up this story yet:

I am not.

For one thing, I have often seen Japanese heroes going unsung in the Japanese media. This was a bit disconcerting at first but I guess there is a trade-off....my country celebrates killers on the take as heroes even more than the most altruistic whistle-blower.

Second thing....the government has full control by duress over the media. Connection? I bet the government has "suggested" all Japanese get out of Ukraine. They are not about to allow the media to celebrate one of the flock disobeying the "suggestion" of the shepherd.

Third thing....if he winds up in deep doo-doo and the J-government fails to help there will be no suppressing that particular story. So they will be forced to allow reporting of it. And unless the government does an absolute perfect job of getting him out of deep doo-doo, the Japanese govenment will be lambasted by the public....fairly or not.

I mean he could be in the literal middle of shelling during a full scale attack, send out a message to the embassy for help, and if he gets taken out a mere 5 seconds later, the public will be mad at the government. Or gee, actually anything bad happens to him the government is sure to take flak.

On the other hand they can't forcibly repatriate him or they will catch hell for that too. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Shocker alert: They are cynical and have settled on indifference with a few damage control solutions....such as "Eeto.....zannen desu ga.....puraibashi no tame....no commento."

Meanwhile, the Japanese public (like most nations frankly) are real good at ignoring heroism....such as when I have risked my own safety to help people and been waved away like a smelly peasant.

I wish both him and the innocent people of both Ukraine and Russia luck. We are all but cogs in the machinery of the vile leaders who push for, profit from, and launch wars, and for all those "official" statements of remorse and concern, all we ordinary people have got is each other....and we all need to get aware and celebrate heroes such as Fuminori Tsuchiko.

 

[thomas]

There was one Japanese hero whose achievements the media couldn't ignore: Nakamura Tetsu, who had devoted his life to building irrigation channels in Afghanistan. Sadly, he paid with his life in 2019.

Japanese doctor remembered one year after killing in Afghanistan

None of those involved in the killings has been caught.

www.japantimes.co.jp

Hearing the Voice of Nakamura Tetsu | NHK WORLD-JAPAN On Demand

For decades before he was killed in 2019, Dr. Nakamura Tetsu devoted his life to aiding the Afghan people. Young Japanese who assisted his efforts reflect on how that experience changed their lives.

www3.nhk.or.jp

The Taliban overpainted the Kabul mural dedicated to him in 2021.

 

[Master of Time]

This is the first I have heard about Tetsu Nakamura.

Both that fact and the fact his mural was destroyed makes me angry.

His murder makes me angier.

He needs a new mural here in Japan.

 

[Master of Time]

It seems some reporters are mistaking the first man's name as Tsukiko Fuminori. Even the video in the OP makes the mistake in the subtitles.

I was not sure which was correct so I looked it up. HIs kanji is 土子文則 as found at this site.

砲撃やまぬ中…避難民150人と、地下鉄駅に住み込み4カ月　75歳「ただのおじいちゃん」がウクライナで支援を続ける理由

ロシアによるウクライナ侵攻がはじまり、まもなく9カ月になる。今もウクライナ北東部の都市・ハルキウに滞在し、150人のウクライナ避難民とともに生活をしながら支援を

www.kobe-np.co.jp

 

[thomas]

Meanwhile, Tsuchiko-san has opened a free café in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Quite amazing!

FuMi Caffe serves about 500 people a day, he said. Tsuchiko said he had been visiting Ukraine as a tourist in February 2022, when the Japanese embassy urged him to leave as Russia prepared to invade. He went to the Polish capital Warsaw but said he returned two months later. One visitor to the cafe, Anna Tovstopyatova, said she had come to make a donation. "It's great that there are so sincere people with an open heart and soul, who sacrifice their life and time to help and give hope," Tovstopyatova said.

Elderly Japanese man opens free cafe in Ukraine's Kharkiv

When Fuminori Tsuchiko arrived in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv last year, he said he wanted to do anything he could to help people following Russia's invasion.

www.reuters.com