Three years ago today, I was living in Japan, but I was so scared that I couldn't sleep because I was worried about the situation in Ukraine, which was being pushed to me in real time by the BBC website. Ukraine and Japan are the same in that we live next to a gas station run by the mafia. Since then, it has become my daily routine to follow the latest updates from Ukrainian YouTubers.

Last fall, a Ukrainian woman came to stay at the homestay I run at my house. She came to Japan to be an English teacher, but she didn't know how to rent an apartment, so I helped her out as much as I could for about a month and helped her move.

I didn't know any Ukrainian people, but last fall, I felt that war was right in front of me. And when I see the recent "diplomacy" between the United States and Russia on the news, I have no words to say to her. How stupid have half of the Americans become? Shouldn't they be pledging allegiance to the flag, not to a rich man who became famous on a reality show, but to the principles of the country's founding? It's scary to think that in 10 years, a con man and a nouveau riche like that will become prime minister in Japan too.

I hope you are safe and well.