Renewing Lives
Support from Connections and Club Members Shunsuke and Nana Nomoto is making a difference for refugees seeking a fresh start in Japan.
On a backstreet in Tokyo’s Kanda district sits an aging office building that most people wouldn’t give a second look. But for some arrivals to Japan, it’s the first stop on the road to a new life.
The fourth floor is home to the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), a nonprofit serving people applying for refugee status. In a lounge area, a weary-looking family rests as they begin a long waiting period while the government reviews their request. Suitcases line a wall next to consultation rooms and booths, where clients can get free clothing, daily necessities, books and toys for their children. From behind a counter, staff distribute Japanese, Western and halal foodstuffs.
Established in 1999, JAR depends on support from individuals and organizations like the Club’s Connections group, which is donating ¥1 million this year, for about 80 percent of its budget. As applicants face a nearly four-year wait for the results of their request, they need help with housing and work while living in legal limbo and trying to integrate into Japanese society.
“There are other groups aiding refugees in Japan, but we act as a one-stop shop,” says Shiho Tanaka, a spokesperson for JAR. “Our vision is to create a society in coexistence with refugees, ensuring their safety and dignity.”
Demand for JAR’s services is growing. In 2023, visits to its office were up sharply to about 600 per month. That coincided with the government granting asylum to a record 303 of 13,823 applicants. The news looked like a misprint in a country that typically admits fewer than 50 refugees a year out of tens of thousands of applications.
Even though it is a major donor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Japan is an immigration outlier among G7 countries. It has had a very strict definition of refugee and has admitted fewer than 2,000 since 1981. In contrast, the United States took in 60,014 refugees in fiscal 2023 alone, according to the State Department.
“Many have asked why Japan, a country lacking in human resources, has such a stance toward refugees—there’s no answer,” says Tanaka. “However, even though the main route is not really opening up, pathways to asylum in Japan are increasing.”
One is a 2023 revision to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that introduced “complementary protection,” a new status for people fleeing conflict. In the first three months of the year, Japan had granted this status to 647 applicants, mostly from Ukraine. As of March 2024, some 2,600 Ukrainian evacuees have received visas.
One refugee activist who understands how hard it can be to change attitudes in Japan is Club Member Shunsuke Nomoto. A lawyer for more than 50 years, he has served on the Subcommittee on International Human Rights for the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Nomoto became involved in refugee issues in the late 1970s as people fleeing persecution after the Vietnam War were arriving in Japan. He was in New York on a human rights study tour in 1978 when he noticed a New York Times article describing the yearlong incarceration without charge of four Laotian refugees at the Yokohama Detention Center. At the time, Japan was ignoring the problem of so-called boat people and others from Southeast Asian countries taken over by communists.
“I thought, we Japanese have to help these people,” says Nomoto. “Along with Father Isamu Ando and nuns from Sophia University, our lawyers association reached out to these people who had overstayed their visas.”
From 1978 to 1982, Nomoto provided legal advice to about 100 asylum seekers while raising public awareness about the issue. He wrote an op-ed in The Japan Times in 1980 calling for Japan to allow refugees to stay in the country for three years and then be given permanent residency. The following year, Japan joined the 1951 Refugee Convention. After that, Nomoto continued providing advice to migrants on problems such as employers who failed to pay and landlords who tried to evict them. He also hosted them for barbecues at his cottage in Kujukuri, Chiba Prefecture.
“My impression is that Japan is still very strict with refugee applicants, as it investigates the claims of each one, whereas other countries take them on their word,” Nomoto explains. “This may be government policy, but it seems to reflect the will of the silent majority.”
Nomoto’s Taiwan-born wife Nana feels attitudes have been changing, however, since she acquired Japanese citizenship 37 years ago. As a Club Member, she has taken pride in helping the community through various Connections activities and is assisting the group with its support of JAR.
“Japan has become much more open,” she says. “Although incidents of discrimination still happen in places like schools and parks, I think it’s a lot easier to live here as a foreigner now because Japan is more accepting.”
Visit the Connections page of the Club website for details on the group’s support of local charities.
Words: Tim Hornyak
Image of Shunsuke and Nana Nomoto: Kayo Yamawaki
August 2024
