Origin of SRSG

Sophia Refugee Support Group (SRSG) is a student-led volunteer group founded in 2017. It was originally created based on a research project at Sophia University called Refugee Voices Japan, led and advised by Professor David Slater.

About SRSG

Bringing hope to refugees and asylum seekers in Japan

Sophia Refugee Support Group (SRSG) aims to provide direct support to refugees in Japan, in response to the increasing number of asylum seekers in the country and the recognition of the limited refugee support systems in Japan. The latest data on refugee status recognition in Japan shows that the country accepted a mere 1.2% of its refugee status applicants in 2020. While Japan is already a challenging place to live for foreigners, that challenge is exponentially multiplied when one is without legal status, unable to work, acquire housing, have free mobility, and subscribe to health insurance. Without legal status, asylum seekers in Japan are left without safety nets in the country they are ironically in to seek safety. Recognizing the gaps in Japanese society from hearing the first-hand stories of asylum seekers in Japan through class interviews, students from Professor David Slater’s Digital Oral Narratives course decided to establish a refugee support circle and made it their objective to do what they can in their capacity as students to support refugees. Established in 2017, we want to bridge refugees and Japanese citizens and contribute to the creation of a Japan that is more open, multicultural, and welcoming to all regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. It is with this recognition that the Sophia Refugee Support Group or SRSG was established and we are grateful to have the support of Sophia University in our activities as a recipient of the 2021 Extracurricular Activities Support Fund by the Sophia School Corporation.

Members of SRSG are global-minded students with varying backgrounds, united by the same passion for the refugee cause. The group, comprised of over 60 members and advised by Faculty of Liberal Arts Professor, Professor David Slater, works towards changing the commonly held perception of refugees as “difficult people” by combining research and action: to further understand the actual needs of the refugees and coupling it with action-based efforts to make a difference in their lives.

Main Activities

As of Fall 2025, SRSG has 10 main activities:

1. Food Distribution

In partnership with the food bank Second Harvest Japan, we have sent monthly food packages to about 50-60 refugees per month from May 2020 to July 2023. Our commitment has resulted in the dispatch of over 900 boxes throughout Japan during this three-year period, supporting many refugees with Muslim backgrounds. We cater the food items according to their dietary restrictions, including halal and vegetarian, as requested. 

However, in July of 2023, we had to suspend our food deliveries, due to internal changes within Second Harvest Japan. Despite this, we were able to introduce a food pantry system, distributing food items during our monthly Refugee Cafés. This new system not only mitigated food loss but also provided autonomy where the refugees themselves, decide what and how much they need: something that is crucial when one loses a sense of control of their lives which marginalized groups often experience.

Halal, Ethnic, and Vegetarian Foods

We also cater from a halal store and order ethnic foods (e.g., fufu and couscous). Given the various dietary restrictions that individuals have, these ethnic foods are able to provide a sense of comfort and ease to their everyday lives.

2. Hygiene items delivery

Basic hygiene needs such as shampoo, toilet paper, and sanitary pads can be very expensive, especially when your income is unstable. We try to alleviate a part of the cost of these items for about 40+ of our refugee friends with our hygiene item packages sent to their houses every other month. We have sent over about 1,000 packages in total.

From December 2025, we have also switched to a hygiene item distribution at our Refugee Cafés. This system has enabled our refugee friends to choose their preferred items and receive everyday items when they need them. This system also helps SRSG to ensure a distribution that is consistent and sustainable.

3. Detention Center Visit

We visit the asylum seekers wrongfully detained in the Shinagawa Detention Center at the Tokyo Immigration Bureau about 2-3 times a month to talk to them and give them moral and material support in the form of telephone cards, clothes, hygiene items, and books.

4. Refugee Cafe

To provide a safe and interactive space for refugees, guests, and members, we organize informal get-togethers called “Cafés”, creating opportunities for social and cultural exchange between individuals with diverse backgrounds. Each month, we gather along with 40-50 refugees at Sophia University to establish camaraderie by playing games, connecting over food, and learning about each other through presentations. These Cafés ensure that refugees feel accepted, recognized, and connected in an unfamiliar and foreign setting. 

Beyond fostering social interactions and connections, we extend our outreach to the university community and SRSG members to collect preloved items like clothing and household essentials for refugees in need. Through these multifaceted initiatives, we cultivate a sense of community while concurrently providing material and psychological support.

For a deeper insight on the role of our Refugee Cafés in creating an ibasho — a place for safety and belonging — for refugee women in Tokyo, we invite you to read an academic article written by a former SRSG president published in Melbourne Asia Review: “Creating safe spaces: a sense of belonging and ibasho for women refugees in Tokyo”.

Refugees are forced to flee their homelands for foreign countries, where they often experience social isolation and have limited access to employment and basic rights. In Japan, where their policies are already strict, refugee women in particular face greater challenges than their male counterparts, as they encounter discrimination both within their already small communities and from broader Japanese society.

In response to these challenges, the Sophia Refugee Support Group (SRSG), a student-led volunteer organization, strives to provide an ibasho— a place where refugees can feel not only safe but also a sense of belonging. SRSG offers support through organized events such as monthly cafés, where refugees can interact with and share experiences with the members of the volunteer group. Additionally, SRSG provides Japanese language classes, delivers food and hygiene supplies, assists with translations for refugee applications, and visits the Immigration Detention Center.

Through these efforts, the SRSG demonstrates how community-based support can make a meaningful impact on the lives of marginalized individuals. By creating safe and inclusive spaces, SRSG not only addresses the practical needs of refugee women but also fosters a sense of belonging. In a country where institutional support is limited, initiatives like SRSG serve as a model for building more inclusive communities.

5. Japanese Language Class: Online & In-person

One of the many difficulties refugees face in Japan is the language barrier. As we are blessed to have multilingual members, we offer Japanese language classes to develop their language skills necessary for daily life, including reading, writing, and speaking. These classes are held for free, online (via Zoom) twice a week and face-to-face once a month before the Refugee Cafés, where approximately 7 varying refugees participate each class. Their classes are tailored to their level of Japanese fluency and what they want to focus on learning.

6. Translation

The documents necessary for asylum applications in Japan are required to be in Japanese, which means the detailed and extensive documents provided by the refugees are often not enough for the application process. Thanks to our multilingual group of students, we are able to ease some of the burdens of our refugee friends by translating some of the supporting documents. We also support them by conducting desk research in media outlets to help strengthen their case.

7. Online School Presentation & Benkyokai (Study Session)

In SRSG, we strongly value the power of knowledge, believing that it is important for the Japanese society as a whole to be aware of the domestic refugee reality. With this, we create safe opportunities for people from all sectors to discuss and think critically about the situation. We visit and conduct both in-person and online presentations in Japanese high schools including Okinawa Shogaku High School, American School in Japan, Urawa Ichijo High School, Tamagawa Gakuen, Keimei Gakuen, Otsuma Nakano Junior and Senior High School, Christian Academy, Denison University, Horizon Japan International School, Shizuoka Salesio Private School in Japan.

We also conduct speaking engagements for companies, and participate in panels or workshops with international organizations. In the past, we have worked with MARSH McLennan Japan, HAYS Japan, Amnesty International Japan, and Pathways Japan (JEPN), UNHCR Japan, RefAct from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. 

We also use social media, and reach out to those who are not as familiar with the refugee situation by posting easy-to-read infographics. Through these engagements, it is one of our missions to also abolish the discriminatory portraits of refugees in Japanese mass media and recreate the image of refugees.

8. Accompanying to the Immigration or Hospital Checkup

When left with no safety net, even the most mundane tasks become difficult to accomplish. Our refugee friends sometimes contact us asking us to accompany them to their visa renewal appointments or to their hospital checkups when they are feeling ill and we come with them to support them both in communicating with the Japanese officials and doctors so they are reminded that they are not going through tough times alone.

9. Spreading Information and Increasing Awareness

We value the power of knowledge; we believe it is integral for the Japanese society as a whole to acknowledge the refugee issue in Japan. Therefore, we create safe spaces for people to discuss and think critically of the situation such as through today’s school visit as well as other speaking engagements with companies as well as international organisations.

9.1. Webinar

We have also organized webinars in partnership with UNHCR, companies, and the Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC). Here are some examples of the webinars held:

• We held a webinar in 2021, where we invited Burmese students to speak about their experiences being here in Japan following the coup in Myanmar.
• In November of 2023, we held it in collaboration with RefAct, a student organization for refugee action in Pennsylvania.
• Our most recent webinar was with UNHCR Japan, in October of 2024, where we had a guest speaker from UNHCR who discussed the current refugee issue in Japan.

9.2. Social Media

We also utilize the power of social media, to inform people of the situation through infographics, and inviting them to webinars and reposting recent news on the overall immigration and refugee situation.

10. Photoshoots for CV and Family Picture

Some of our refugee friends were greatly affected by the job layoffs brought about by COVID-19 and to respond to this, we initiated a project to take their CV pictures for them for free. Some did not necessarily want CV pictures, but rather just wanted photos to remember the moments they were spending with their family here in Japan. We had some of our members passionate about photography take photos of our refugee friends to both support them in their job-hunting process but also to store memories in photographs.

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SRSG Achievements

Date	Sector	Organization/Event Name	Activity Description
Feb 7, 2023	Private	つくろい東京ファンド (Tsukuroi Tokyo Fund)	Exchange with social worker Osawa Yuma
Feb 10, 2023	Private	HAYS Japan	Fundraising event (50 participants)
Apr 26, 2023	Private	Marsh Japan	Webinar on refugee issues in Japan (100+ participants)
May 18, 2023		Pathways Japan	SRSG’s alumni partook in the “Expanding Refugee Education Pathways” conference, representing Sophia University, and presented efforts by our research arm, Refugee Voices Japan (via Professor Slater) and our support efforts to refugee students.
June 1–9, 2023	Education	Sophia University	Campus donation drive
June 1,2023	Education	Otsuma Nakano Junior & Senior High School	Online school visit focusing on gendered refugee issues
June 4,2023	Education	Denison University (USA)	Presentation for visiting students researching refugees
June 11, 2023	NGO	Amnesty International Japan	SRSG support initiative presentation
June 23, 2023	NGO	Amnesty International Japan	We collaborated with Amnesty International and held a movie screening for “My Small Land”. Invited immigration lawyer, Arata Kumazawa and filmmaking advisor of “My Small Land”, Vakkas Colak and held a 1.5 hour long panel discussion.
August 7, 2023		Office of Sophia Sustainability Promotion (OSSP)	Introduced as one of the SDG-related initiatives at Sophia University by the Office of Sophia Sustainability Promotion (OSSP).
August 29, 2023		Pathways Japan	Co-organised a student meeting with Ukrainian refugee students and Japanese students all around Japan. Conducted a student-led open discussion on the refugee affiliated issues, with university students from all around Japan.
October 6,2023	Education	Horizon Japan International School	Online school visit on refugee rights (100 participants)
October 7, 2023		Pathways Japan	Assisted Ukrainian, Syrian, and Afghan refugee students from all over Japan including Sophia University at a job-hunting event conducted by JEPN, and participated as assistant teachers in Japanese language and business classes.
November1–4,2023	Education	Sophia University: 創立記念プログラム「難民問題と向き合う」	Talk session and promotional event
November 2023 (Sophia Festival)	Education	Sophia University (SRSG-led session)	Organized a 3-day informative talk session with live translation inviting 2 female refugees and the former president of SRSG. During this event, we captured female refugees’ real voices who face more precarity and are vulnerable, that are often not portrayed in the Japanese mainstream media.
November 12, 2023	Organization	RefAct Lafayette College	We co-hosted an online panel discussion addressing the refugee policies and issues in both the United States and Japan with a refugee support group called Refugee Action (RefAct) from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, United States, with approximately 50 participants.
Dec 4, 2023	Education	Shizuoka Salesio Private School	Online school visit on refugee realities in Japan (120 participants)
October 31, 2024	NGO	UNHCR Japan
December 15, 2024	Education	Columbia International School	Clothes and food donation event

SRSG Recognition

Apart from collaborations with other organizations, the work of SRSG has also been recognized and mentioned in a number of recognized news articles in Japan. 

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Awards and Grants

SRSG is grateful for the continuous support of the university in our mission to support refugees in Japan. Since our establishment in 2017 and official recognition as a circle at Sophia University, we have been awarded the Extracurricular Activity Group Grant by the Sophia University Benefactors’ Association in 2019 where we received 100,000 JPY, the 2020 Pope Francis Visit Commemorative Award by the Sophia School Corporation Catholic Jesuit Center in 2021 where we were given a 200,000 JPY grant, and recently, 150,000JPY from the Sophia Alumni Association as a 2021 Extracurricular Activity Support Grant Awardee for our “outstanding activities as a Sophia-based organization”.

Certificate and at the awarding ceremony

As a student volunteer group that generates income mainly through membership fees and fundraising events, Sophia’s financial support for our activities is greatly appreciated as it enables us to continue to uphold the Sophian values that make us individuals “For Others, With Others”.

Future Activities

SRSG is continuously finding ways to better support our refugee friends. As we move forward to inevitably living in a world with a pandemic, we want to use the limited face-to-face opportunities that we have with our refugee friends as a means to know and discover what else we can provide for them. As mentioned above, SRSG is also grateful to have been recently awarded the 2021 Extracurricular Activities Support Fund by the Sophia School Corporation. As a student-volunteer group, the restrictions posed by COVID-19 have made it difficult for us to raise funds to continue our activities. This grant money is a great help that will allow us to not only continue but also intensify our current activities and devise new ways to support our refugee friends and advocate for their rights in Japan. This fund will also help us encourage more Sophia students to stand with refugees, in the spirit of friendship, in the pursuit of justice, and in the showcase of humanity, to fully embody Sophia’s ideals of fostering students to become “For Others, With Others.”

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Messages from SRSG Past Presidents

Gabriela Nakano (President, 2019-2020)

“I joined SRSG when it was still a small research group uncovering the needs of asylum seekers in Japan. When it became an official university circle, I had the honor of serving as its first president. One of our biggest challenges came in that very first semester, when our group rapidly grew from 15 to over 100 members. It was both exciting and overwhelming, and it pushed us to build a structure that was sustainable, mission-driven, and engaging enough to keep students actively involved. What means the most to me now is seeing the ripple effect we helped set in motion. I was especially grateful to pass the baton when I graduated—despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic—and the fact that SRSG is still thriving today shows that more and more students are not only becoming aware of the refugee community in Japan, but also stepping up to create a more welcoming society.My hope is that future leaders continue to build on what came before them, and create new approaches from the ground up. Each generation brings ideas we never imagined or didn’t have the resources to put into action- and that’s how we can expand our positive impact.”

Christina Fukuoka (Vice President, 2021-2022・President 2022-2023)

“Being president of SRSG was one of the most humbling and transformative experiences of my academic journey. It taught me the value of collective action, deep listening, and the power of solidarity across cultural borders. What began as a student initiative soon grew into a vibrant community–one that uplifts refugee voices and challenges us to confront injustice with compassion and courage. I hope SRSG continues to shine as a lighthouse: illuminating the often-overlooked realities of forced displacement while also guiding refugees and asylum seekers toward possibilities for integration, dignity, and belonging in Japan. May future members keep pushing boundaries, amplifying invisibilised voices, and create waves of awareness that ripple far beyond the university.”

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Messages From Our Refugee Friends

Gabriel

“I know you students have this big heart. You want to be kind and generous. I feel I have to encourage you people.”

James

“They were the first people to show me love in Japan since I came, after Gabriel. They were greeting me, so friendly. They give me small things to eat, and I was like, ‘Hey this place is nice.’”

Ariana

“Even better than my family, even better than my workplaces, even better than my school. I dreamed a lot about this kind and nice, high-quality cultural behavior.”