Whose borscht: Klopotenko was refused to open a restaurant in Japan

Borscht/Yevhen Klopotenko

Ukrainian restaurateur Yevhen Klopotenko said that after negotiations to open a public catering establishment in Japan, he was refused due to the fact that among the local population there is an allegedly widespread opinion that borscht is a Russian thing.

Recently, Ukrainian chef and restaurateur Yevhen Klopotenko shared some unpleasant news online. He reported that he was denied the opportunity to open a restaurant in Japan.

Klopotenko published screenshots of the correspondence on social media, which states that in Japan, borscht is considered a Russian dish.

You live for yourself, you work, you conduct negotiations about the opening of a Ukrainian institution in Japan. And here's your turn: the Japanese don't want to open a mono-restaurant with borscht, because they have, attention: “a common opinion is that borscht is a Russian dish.” It is clear that people will avoid this place by the tenth road, because the conscious Japanese, fortunately, are historically Russophobes. And so, we seem to be on the same side of the barricade, and some fool comes out. And this is an excellent example of the depth of Russian propaganda, – the restaurateur wrote.

According to Klopotenko, this situation will not reduce his team's efforts to popularize Ukrainian thought and cuisine in the world. And he called the case an isolated one, because the level of support for Ukraine in Japan is very high.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Serhiy Korsunskyi and Japanese journalist Takashi Hirano have already reacted to this. The latter reported that previously many local residents really considered borscht to be Russian. However, the situation is changing rapidly.

We remind you that thanks to the efforts of Yevhen Klopotenko, in June 2022, Ukrainian borscht was added to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.