Press Releases

On January 19, Dr. Ostap SLYVYNSKY, author of "The Dictionary of War", who is visiting Japan by the invitation programme of the Japan Foundation, and Dr. Robert CAMPBELL, who translated the book into Japanese, met with Ms. KOBAYASHI Maki, Assistant Minister for Press and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the meeting, Dr. Slyvynsky and Dr. Campbell said they attach importance to face-to-face communication in order to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the book, which was published in Japan at the end of last year. They also expressed their sincere gratitude to the Japan Foundation for its cooperation in making this visit possible.

Dr. Slyvynsky also stated that he was impressed by profound understanding and empathy of Japanese readers without much explanation of the context during some dialogues he already had.　He said that Japan and Ukraine have much in common historically, deep mutual understanding and share values regardless of geographical distance, and that he is glad Ukraine has Japan as a friend.

Ms. Kobayashi spoke about the visit of Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA to Kyiv and Bucha earlier this year, which she accompanied, and how deeply was impressed by the Ukrainian people who carry on their daily lives despite the ravage of war. She conveyed her heartfelt respect for their courage and perseverance, and appreciated Dr. Slivinski for coming over to Japan to directly speak about situations in Ukraine and reassured him Japan's consistent and steadfast policy of standing together with Ukraine.

［Reference] "The Dictionary of War”

A literary document compiled by Ukrainian poet Ostap SLYVYNSKY based on the testimonies of evacuees who fled the war-torn part of Ukraine after the Russian invasion, as well as citizens and ex-soldiers who helped them. Originally published as "СЛОВНИК ВІЙНИ", the book was translated into Japanese by Robert CAMPBELL, a scholar of Japanese literature, and published last December as " Senso Goishu ".