It's now been two years
since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began.

Over 10,000 civilian lives were lost,
and the war shows no sign of abating.

Ukrainians still live in uncertainty.

Where We Call Home.

In the past, we've filmed some Ukrainians whose connection to martial arts brought them to Japan.

Fifteen-year-old Artem Tsymbaliuk.

After a brief period living as an evacuee in Nagano, he returned to Ukraine.

Now he's back for a world tournament.

I want to focus on each match
to do as best I can.

To those who've supported him, he wants to show how strong he's become.

A former Ukrainian national karate team member, this woman is now an entrepreneur in Kyoto.

Twenty-seven-year-old Anna Kreshchenko.

Her company developed an app that supports women's health.

Through her business, she also helps the people in her homeland.

More than just helping them,
I simply wish to work with them.

And if I can help them at the same time,
then I want to do so.

We revisit these two young Ukrainians as they move forward,

their spirits strengthened by martial arts.

December 2023.

Arriving in Japan are seven Ukrainian students of a Japanese martial art called Zendokai Karate.

Artem Tsymbaliuk came to live in Japan as an evacuee when the Russian invasion began.

This time, he's back to take part in a world championship.

This brings back memories.

I look forward to seeing the people
I met while I was living here.

Though at first the Ukrainian chapter of Zendokai Karate closed due to the war, it later gradually reopened.

And so, Artem was able to continue to train.

He went on to win last year's nationals, and was chosen to represent Ukraine in the world championships.

Artem strongly wished to revisit the town where he lived as an evacuee for about six months.

And so, here he is.

I lived here until a bit more than
a year ago. I remember this road.

In April 2022, with the support of Zendokai, Artem was invited over to Japan.

He was one of nine evacuees - fellow Zendokai Karate students with their mothers and siblings.

This is where we live.

Artem and his mother Olena stayed in this apartment managed by the local government, free of charge.

The people of Takamori warmly welcomed their Ukrainian guests in hope to make getting used

to life in a country with a different language and culture a little easier.

However, after about six months, feeling they couldn't leave their loved ones behind in their homeland any longer,

the evacuees decided to head back to Ukraine.

Today, Artem brings some small gifts his mother prepared.

Candy - a little something from Ukraine
for the people of Takamori.

He goes around town to hand out these tokens of their gratitude.

Hi!

- I brought a gift!
- "Dobryi den'!" (Hi!)

Oh my gosh!

Artem!

Yamauchi Tomoko regularly brought daily necessities to Artem and his mother.

Thank you.

Can I...? I was worried about you so much!

I was so worried!

I'm relieved to see you!

Thank you!

- Bye! Thank you!
- Thank you.

- Bye!
- Bye!

Do pobachennya! (Goodbye!)

Hi!

Next, Artem visits local farmer Miyashita Michihisa.

Present from Ukraine.

Thank you!

You've grown!

Every week, Michihisa would give them some of his vegetables.

- Hi.
- Oh, hi!

- I brought you some vegetables.
- How nice!

Thank you!

I'll bring some more, about every week.

- Thank you so much!
- I'm nervous.

My mother says hi.

Please give her my regards.
I'm glad she's doing well.

I'll tell her.

Please do.

That evening.

Artem tells his mother about his reunion with the people of Takamori.

I went around town to give
the candy to everyone.

I feel my emotions well up.

I'm so grateful for all they did for us.

I'll always remember them.

Now, I'm crying!
I can't stop.

Olena currently lives some two hundred kilometers west of the capital of Kyiv, in the city of Vinnytsia.

Winter's coming. There are energy
shortages and restrictions on heating.

Food and everything's expensive,
and there's a lot less work.

Life is hard.
We never know what'll happen.

But I believe there's
a brighter future coming.

This is the venue where the tournament will take place.

Welcoming Artem is Ozawa Takashi, the chairman and founder of Zendokai Karate...

...who helped the Ukrainians during their stay here.

He's grown so tall.
He'll soon be taller than me.

I'm so happy to see Ozawa-sensei again.

Taking part in the tournament are about three hundred students from in and out of Japan.

Artem is especially excited to see one of them.

Miyazawa Sosuke, who trained at the same dojo as the evacuees during their stay in Japan.

He was Artem's very first Japanese friend.

The two being the same age, as they trained together, friendship developed naturally.

Let's do our best.

Thank you. You too.

Thanks.

Wearing protective gear, the contestants fight using strikes, throws and ground techniques.

Participants are separated by age and level of skill.

Artem is in the boys' sixteen-and-under expert category.

Eager to show Master Ozawa and Sosuke how he's improved, Artem is ready to give it all he's got.

His first opponent is an expert with ground techniques.

The first to score a point within two minutes wins.

Begin!

Artem goes in from the start.

But his adversary retaliates.

In the nick of time, Artem locks his opponent's arm in a cross hold, a technique he's particularly skilled at.

White corner wins with cross hold!

He won his first fight.

Well done!

Your trump card: a cross hold!

Good luck for the next one.

Thank you!

Sosuke comes to congratulate him.

That was a well-done arm lock.

A great fight.

Thanks.

Artem made it to the final round.

I want to win!

In the white corner,
Artem Tsymbaliuk from Ukraine.

His adversary has several national victories under his belt.

Begin!

Artem is overwhelmed.

He attempts a ground technique, but his opponent slips out of his grip.

It's now a seesaw fight.

Five, four, three, two, one!

The judges will determine the winner.

Unfortunately, Artem lost this one.

He finishes the tournament in second place.

I lost, but I met many fighters today.
It was such a great experience.

I'll train more and win next time.

Once he's back in Ukraine, Artem will train harder than ever in the hope to seize victory in the next championships.

The day after the tournament.

Artem visits the dojo where he trained during his stay in Japan.

This is where he grew stronger and gained confidence.

I feel very close to Japan.
It's like my second homeland.

I learned so much here in Takamori,
and made many friends.

I want to come back to Japan,
and train in Zendokai Karate here.

With renewed determination, Artem heads back to war-torn Ukraine.

A former member of the Ukrainian national karate team - Anna Kreshchenko.

Four years ago, she founded her own company in Japan.

Through her business, she works hard to help her fellow Ukrainians.

Anna's firm developed an application that offers support for health issues unique to women.

Today, she attends a meeting with a company affiliated with a major automaker.

They're interested in using the app.

We want to provide our services
to as many people as possible.

- I'm thankful for this opportunity.
- So are we.

The app helps women better understand, manage and improve their overall health.

It keeps track of things like a user's menstruation period, body temperature, and even daily moods, which an AI analyzes.

It provides advice on subjects including fitness and nutrition.

The app now has more than eighty thousand users.

A year ago, Anna's firm only provided its services to individual users.

Anna won awards at business contests, which helped her gather funds to further develop the app.

She also put a lot of effort in sales and promotion.

As a result, she now counts more than fifty companies among her clients.

We're eager to provide a work environment
where women can thrive.

Thank you for helping us.

In addition to creating a product,
we also want to set up an infrastructure.

We aim to be a platform
that connects many stakeholders.

Anna has been living in Kyoto ever since she came to study in Japan seven years ago.

She loved the city's historical scenery, and decided to set up her office here.

She spends two weeks every month in Tokyo on business.

In spite of her busy schedule, not a moment goes by without her thinking about her mother back in Ukraine.

I haven't seen her in about a year.

She keeps saying she wants to see me.
She misses me.

Anna's hometown is the port city of Odessa.

When the war broke out, she immediately called her mother.

But she explains there are times when the turmoil often makes it difficult to keep in touch.

I never know if she's OK until
I get a reply. I'm always worried.

I hope she can evacuate to Japan or
another country. I have to do something.

Anna hoped to bring support to the people in her homeland.

She's hired the help of Ukrainian IT engineers who lost their jobs due to the war.

Let me make the introductions.
This is Denys, Maksym, and Stanislav.

With the company's expansion, the number of Ukrainian employees has doubled over the past year for a current total of ten.

And as a new initiative, they've employed a Ukrainian student to train as an intern.

While Oleksii studies economics at Kyoto University, he also works for Anna's company fifteen hours a week.

Yeah, like, I really, like, look up to her.

I'm looking forward to, like, grow with Flora.

I want him to develop the skills
to work in any country and company.

Worried for her home country struck by war, Anna continues to contribute through her business.

I want to use the network of relations
I'm developing...

to create an environment where
skilled workers in Ukraine can grow.

Hi, I'm Yurii Voronkov.

I work in public relations
for a firm that runs vertical farms.

Let me show you my work.

9:00 a.m.
work starts

Yurii creates social media content
to promote vertical farming.

He heads to the Kyoto suburbs
to do an interview.

The farms grow produce with LED light
and nutrient-enriched water.

They provide a stable crop yield
without using agrochemicals.

The firm sells lettuce
to some 5,000 supermarkets nationwide.

Some say hydroponic culture
produces lettuce that's softer.

Why is that?

The roots are in water,
so they absorb more.

- But some want crunchier lettuce.
- Yes.

So, we make adjustments in the air.

By changing airflow and temperature,
the vegetables' texture can be adjusted.

Right away, Yurii gets to work
on writing an article.

Readers want to see
the people we introduce.

Just saying it's a nice environment
isn't convincing.

So, I always think of how to
convey what the farmers say...

in a more realistic and compelling way.

Born in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv,
Yurii grew up a fan of anime and manga.

He majored in Japanese at the University
of Kyiv and even studied in Japan.

Hoping to work for a Japanese company,
he found his current job in 2018.

However, in 2022,
Russia invaded his homeland.

Yurii's mother, sister
and nephew live in Kyiv.

On January 2nd, there was a major attack
involving exploding drones and missiles.

I contacted them right away.
I make sure to check on them regularly.

2:00 p.m.
guided tour

Agricultural university students
visit the company.

- They harvest 30,000 heads daily.
- That's a lot.

What do you grow?

- Chili peppers.
- Chilies! It's difficult.

Yurii attends to visitors of organizations
from in and out of Japan.

- Inada Shinji is our president.
- Pleased to meet you.

My first impression of him was that
he seemed very quiet.

But he's been so competent
in answering questions.

I'm confident I can entrust him
with our company's PR work.

When the war in Ukraine broke out, I was
quite hesitant to talk to him about it.

But as the situation got worse,
I eventually asked him if he was OK.

When the invasion began...
It goes without saying, but I was shocked.

Yurii has such a strength of spirit.
He didn't want us to worry.

He said, "I'm OK."

Yurii decided to go back to Ukraine
to support his family.

I thought it over for the past two years,
and my family too...

have been asking me to go back.
So, I decided to go.

I told him we'd keep
his position open for him.

So, he can come back whenever he's ready.

Even while he's in Ukraine,
if he ever needs our help...

he can contact us anytime.

I told him we'd try to help him
however we can.

If I can come back, I hope
to work with everyone here again.

Now in Ukraine, a lot of farmland
is being lost.

So, I believe vertical farming could
prove to be a crucial solution.

My treasure is this traditional Ukrainian
garment called a "vyshyvanka."

My mother sent it to me.

In the occupied territories,
books in Ukrainian are being burned.

A lot of culture is being destroyed.

It's said we don't know the value
of something until we risk losing it.

So, this helped me realize the importance
of each and every aspect of our culture.