Kokorogoto Cafe to Hold Vyshyvanka Day Celebration Connecting Ukrainian Evacuees and Japanese Supporters

Idea Human Support Service Co., Ltd. announced that Kokorogoto Cafe, operated by the company, will hold a celebration for Vyshyvanka Day over eight days: May 14-17 and May 21-24. As of April 30, 2026, 2,893 Ukrainian evacuees are living in Japan. As their displacement becomes prolonged, the challenges they face are shifting from temporary evacuation to building a stable foundation for life in Japan. According to a 2026 survey by The Nippon Foundation, about 60% of evacuees said they hope to settle in Japan. Continued support is needed in areas such as Japanese-language education, employment and career assistance, children’s education, building ties with local communities, maintaining cultural identity, mental health care, and preventing isolation. For people living away from their homeland, opportunities to maintain cultural identity and feel connected to their roots are especially important psychologically, as they may feel cut off from their own culture and customs. Vyshyvanka Day, held every year on the third Thursday of May, is an important day when people wear vyshyvanka, traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothing, to express to the world their will to preserve Ukrainian ethnic traditions free from the constraints of any nation, ethnicity, or religion. The organizers believe that sharing this important day with Japanese supporters helps Ukrainian people feel that their culture is respected and contributes to psychological safety in their lives in Japan. Since its renewal opening on May 16, 2024, Kokorogoto Cafe has continued to support employment for Ukrainian people. Over the past two years, many Japanese supporters have visited the cafe, helping it grow not only as a place for employment support but also as a hub for mutual cultural exchange and respect. The event aims to create an opportunity for Ukrainian people continuing their lives in Japan to connect with Japanese people and receive further support. Kokorogoto Cafe will continue working to provide a welcoming place and opportunities for interaction between Ukrainian people and Japanese supporters. For the celebration, the cafe will offer a special plan featuring Ukrainian wine and a new Ukrainian menu, with hopes for Ukraine’s peace and recovery. Ukraine has a culture of drinking wine both in daily life and during celebrations, and its wine industry once flourished across its vast lands, producing white and sparkling wines in cooler regions and red wines in warmer regions. However, many vineyards have disappeared due to Russia’s military invasion. Industry research indicates that since 2022, about 50% of vineyards have been located in war zones, occupied areas, or mine-risk areas, making Ukrainian wine extremely rare. The celebration periods are May 14-17, 2026, around the cafe’s second anniversary on May 16, and May 21-24, 2026, starting from Vyshyvanka Day. Kokorogoto Cafe staff will welcome guests wearing vyshyvanka. Kokorogoto Cafe was planned by the Japan Federation of Psychological Professions under the concept of “a treat for the mind and body,” as a place where anyone can casually receive counseling or therapy as easily as having tea at a cafe. In February 2014, Idea Human Support Service opened Kokorogoto cafe as a cafe with psychological counselors. In May 2024, it reopened in Aoyama as Kokorogoto Cafe, a fruit tea and art therapy cafe that also serves as a workplace for Ukrainian evacuees. The cafe is located on the 1st floor of SANWA Aoyama Building, 2-9-9 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. It is open daily from 10:00 to 22:00. Idea Human Support Service is guided by the mission of solving social issues through counseling and mental training. The company supports career changes for working adults as a specialist in mental care, provides mental training for athletes, applies these programs to corporate mental health and retention, and offers psychological care after disasters and incidents, including support for Ukrainian evacuees. It also cooperates with the Japan Federation of Psychological Professions in SNS counseling initiatives, including suicide prevention, education counseling, abuse prevention consultations for children and parents, women’s counseling, care related to online defamation, and disaster-related mental health support.