Geographical Studies on Refugees in Japan

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Compared to geographical research in the U.S. and Europe, that in Japan has not produced much literature on refugees and asylum seekers, especially those in Japan. However, as more people have migrated to Japan to seek the status of refugee and the Japanese government launched a pilot program to resettle Myanmar refugees residing in Thailand, it is necessary for geographers to conduct studies on refugees in Japan. In order to explore the geographical themes in refugee studies, I investigated existing English literature on refugees written by geographers. Based on this literature research, I proposed the following three tasks to develop geographical research on refugees in Japan : 1) research on the procedure of recognizing refugee status in relation to Japan's border protection policy ; 2) analysis of assistance for refugees provided by non-governmental organisations, with a focus on geographical differences within Japan or between Japan and other countries ; and 3) investigation of refugees' migration process to resettle in Japan, with special attention to their residential patterns, networks, relations with the local residents, and gender.