“Ukraine and Japan’s relationship has been coming along quite well, according to KW.
This year we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, and looking back over the last 20 years we’ve made great progress in almost every sector such as politics, economy, culture, science, trade, etcetera,” Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Ukraine told KW. “But I wish to see more expansion and further development of our validation in the area of trade, for example, as well as in science and technology. We are now making some kinds of special efforts in those certain areas and I would like to emphasize that we made good joint efforts to succeed and celebrate this year’s 20th anniversary.”
When asked how did he think is Japanese culture popular in Ukraine, Mr Toichi said: “I believe that the Japanese culture is quite well accepted by the Ukrainian people. For example, I came here about a year ago - October of 2011- and what I was surprised to see when I first arrived was the number of sushi restaurants scattered throughout the city. I didn’t understand why there are so many Japanese sushi restaurants, but later I learned that the Ukrainian people like the taste, and maybe they like the natural health benefits of Japanese food.”
However, Kyiv sushi compare with the sushi in Tokyo still leave to be desired, he said: “What is a handicap here in Kyiv is that it’s a bit difficult to get good rice and also fresh fish. It is said that whether sushi is considered good or not depends 70% on the rice, 20% on the fish, and 10% on the skill of the chef.”
