For refugees, the first six months are the most difficult, according to one of the first people from Syria whose application was accepted by Japan.
"For six months you cannot have anything — even a bank account and a cellphone. You are just isolated," Jamal, who is 24 and hails from Damascus, said of his life after landing in Japan in 2013.
"The only thing that Japan I hope to change is the first six months," he said in English at an event held in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Wednesday.