Due to the Russian invasion, more than 5 million Ukrainian children’s education is in danger. About 400 children have escaped war and reached Japan. They attend school, in a strange land with a foreign language. What consequences does this have?
The contrast between the two countries’ times table was particularly stark. In Japan, there is kuku, a chant for memorizing the times table. There is nothing like this in Ukraine, and Ukrainian children had difficulty keeping up with calculation in Japanese schools.
A Japanese professor decided to make a "Ukrainian times table song" to help Ukrainian children gain confidence in math. A Ukrainian university student in Japan at the time of the invasion, who cannot return to her home country, is tasked with creating a Ukrainian version of the chant. Our cameras follow two families and their struggles, and also show those who are working tirelessly to provide support for their education: an important factor so easily forgotten in times of war.