In 2008 there was a sharp spike in the number of people seeking asylum in Japan, and although only 6 percent of those processed were recognized by the government as refugees, they totalled 57 compared with 41 the year before.
Eri Ishikawa of the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR) attributes the rise — which included many applicants from Burma (which the military junta calls Myanmar) — to growing sympathy here following the brutal suppression of the Saffron Revolution in 2007 and the military junta's woeful response to the humanitarian disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
Many Burmese in Japan now also report that, sensing a more welcoming environment, they have filed applications for the first time, or reapplied.