> The situation has prompted calls for Japan to shift from what critics say is a policy of seclusion regarding refugees. I hope Japan continues to ignore those calls and do what is right for Japan. Japan doesn’t see itself as an enormous global super power that can solve all the world’s problems. They also don’t see themselves as an immigrant nation. What could change that is a corrupt mainstream media feeding Japanese people the idea that they owe it to the world to take in every poor migrant until they can’t handle any more. Thankfully, Japan does not seem to have that kind of media. > Japan does not recognize those fleeing Ukraine as refugees, and they are instead able to apply for a one-year "designated activities" visa that allows them to work. This is far shorter than the long-term visa of *five years* granted to refugees recognized in Japan. That’s another interesting point. They only grant five year visas to refugees. That means even the small number accepted as refugees are not given permanent residency. They put a time limit on it. It doesn’t say how long the other 580 who were allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds get to stay for, but it’s probably less than five years.