Japan accepted just six asylum seekers last year, the lowest number in 15 years, according to the Justice Ministry. Japan's refugee acceptance rate has plummeted from an already astoundingly low of 0.6 percent of those who applied in 2012 to the even lower 0.16 percent last year. Total applicants, however, were up.
Last year, 3,260 people applied for asylum in Japan, the most on record. Last year’s minuscule acceptance rate is equivalent to accepting none at all.
The rate is one more piece of evidence that Japan's insularity is increasing. The Justice Ministry may feel that refusing so many asylum seekers in need of protection is somehow just a matter of protecting Japanese society or applying strict standards. The bottom line, though, is that Japan has the lowest acceptance rate of any developed country.