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Japanese Band’s Wartime Tour Across Ukraine Becomes Feature Film “Inochi”
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Kyiv-based documentary studio ASAP Production is completing work on a feature-length film titled Inochi, a road movie that follows the Ukrainian tour of Japanese band Heavenphetamine during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The title comes from Japanese and means “life.”
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Inochi documents a music tour across Ukraine at a time when the country continues to face systematic attacks on its energy infrastructure. Power outages, cold weather, and ongoing instability form the backdrop as the band travels across the country, performing in multiple cities while relying on public transport.
Hiroki and Sara, a couple from Tokyo, create music at the intersection of psychedelia, post-punk, and electronic sound. Their journey takes them through different regions of Ukraine, where each city has its own rhythm, level of risk, and ways of adapting to wartime conditions. Between concerts, the film follows night train rides, waiting at stations, backstage conversations, and pauses between air raid sirens.
According to the filmmakers, the documentary focuses not only on the tour itself but also on the atmosphere surrounding it, exploring what it means to create and experience culture during a period of uncertainty.
“For us, this film is not only about music or travel. It’s about creating a cultural dialogue with the world—especially with audiences in Asia —and showing what war looks like across different cities in Ukraine: how it seeps into everyday life, reshaping routines, and how it manifests differently from East to West. At the same time, we want to show that Ukraine is not only a country at war, but a living country, where people continue to create, support one another, and remain deeply human despite everything,” said producer and founder of ASAP Production, Rimma Mareychenko.
Filming took place between February and March 2026, with the crew following the band throughout the tour and recording not only performances but also travel, waiting, and everyday moments along the way.
Among ASAP Production’s previous projects are the social initiative “Women at War,” created in collaboration with the UK government, the film “The Longer You Bleed,” and the documentary “The Ethnographer of Chornobyl,” produced with Al Jazeera.
According to the creators, “Inochi” aims to show Ukraine beyond the usual news narrative.
“Even under constant attacks, Ukrainian cities remain spaces of culture, humanity, and life. Through this film, we want to share that reality—honest, complex, and deeply human,” Mareychenko added.
While international coverage often focuses on the frontline and political developments, the film turns to everyday life that continues despite the war. Through the perspective of visiting musicians, Ukraine is presented not as an abstract war zone, but as a cultural space where people continue to live, work, and create.
The music project Heavenphetamine, created by Hiroki and Sara, was formed in Japan in 2018 and has gone through several transformations, performing at different times as a trio, a quartet, and eventually becoming a duo.
Since 2021, Hiroki and Sara have lived in Georgia and Ukraine, and after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the band began organizing charity tours across Ukraine, Europe, and Japan. Proceeds from the concerts are donated to support humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
In the related development, War Child Records released the charity album HELP (2), created to raise funds for children affected by war in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Sudan, and ten other countries where the organization is active.
The new album contains 23 tracks by major artists including Depeche Mode, Pulp, Beck, Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn, Blur, Big Thief, Sampha, Foals, Wet Leg, Young Fathers, Oasis, and Arctic Monkeys. Among them is Opening Night by Arctic Monkeys, written specially for HELP (2), which became the band’s first new release in four years.
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
