Nick was born in Japan and was raised in Hong Kong for most of his life. Having lived in the international city of Hong Kong for 15 years, he has always been interested in exploring the cultural aspects of different societies. His exchange program in the Netherlands was the first time he encountered the reality of the refugee problem. Learning about it made him realize the significance of this issue and also how Japan is ranked one of the lowest acceptance rates of refugees among developed countries. Driven to know more about it, Nick joined SRSG as soon as he returned to Japan and found the opportunity to cover Christopher’s life as a refugee through this project. From Christopher’s persecution by the government in Cameroon to his experience in the detention center in Japan, he consistently showed courage and strong leadership despite all the challenges and obstacles. Nick truly hopes this project done by Sophia University will contribute to increasing the awareness of the issue in Japan for a better chance.
Akane was born in Osaka, Japan, and she spent 9 years living in Singapore and Istanbul, Turkey. Her experience living in Turkey strongly encouraged her to learn about the refugee crisis, especially about Syrian refugees whom she had close contact with. During her years in Turkey, she encountered many Syrian refugees through a refugee support community at her school and learned about their struggles and difficulties. After returning to Japan, she found out about the low refugee recognition rate in Japan, which made her take part in this project to find out more about the difficulties that asylum seekers in Japan are facing today. Having lived in different countries and being a minority outside of Japan, she wanted to understand what it is like to be in Japan as a minority and see the country from different perspectives. After working with Christopher, she found out how complicated the life of an asylum seeker could be and how the voices of minorities are often neglected by the Japanese media. Because refugee issues are often kept in the dark and commonly misrepresented in Japanese society, she hopes to fill in the gaps of knowledge by sharing their stories and urging people to tackle these issues together.
Chris was born in Japan but grew up in Australia. He studied microbiology and immunology before enrolling at Sophia University. Having completely changed his field of study, he discovered many new topics of research. Among these, the issues surrounding refugees in Japan immediately piqued his interest. Chris was shocked by the discrepancy between the high volume of refugee applications and the small number of people formally accepted as refugees in Japan. He came to realize that asylum seekers and refugees have far less recognition and prominence in Japanese political debate and media coverage compared to other countries such as Australia. Keen to discover more and to contribute towards the support of refugees in Japan, Chris joined SRSG in his first semester at Sophia University. He regularly visited the Shinagawa Detention Centre over the following years. Having been in contact with Christopher during his detainment, he saw this as the perfect topic to cover for the Refugee Voices project. Chris feels honored to have had the opportunity to speak in depth with Christopher about one of the defining aspects of his story as a person seeking refuge in Japan. He hopes that Christopher’s narrative will shed light on the challenges faced by asylum seekers in this country, and facilitate wider recognition of these issues.
Nanami was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She spent most of her life in Tokyo, attending local Japanese schools until she entered Sophia University. She also lived in the U.S. for about a year as an exchange student in high school which was her first time seeing Japan from a different perspective. After she started studying in FLA, she discovered many issues surrounding Japan. During her 3rd year, she lived in Pakistan for half a year. After her return to Japan, she noticed that many Middle Eastern asylum seekers were struggling with their lives. By hearing their voices, she strongly felt the responsibility to help their situation. She is now a part of SRSG and frequently visits the detention center. She was honored to be able to take part in the interviews with Christopher and deliver his story of working in Japan. She hopes that her deep conversation with Christopher is accurately conveyed to her readers. Christopher’s story represents the reality of how refugees struggle with their lives in Japan, an issue that cannot be understood by the statistical information alone. She hopes his efforts of telling his story will encourage other refugees and asylum seekers in Japan, and bring about understanding of their situation within the broader community to drive people to take further action.
