A Kurdish man and his family who staged a sit-in in front of United Nations University in 2004 while they were seeking refugee status announced Monday they have been accepted in Canada.
Erdal Dogan, a 33-year-old Kurd from Turkey, said he was both delighted and depressed by the decision.
"Honestly speaking, I wish I could stay and live in Japan," Dogan said in Japanese at a news conference. "In Canada, my whole family will have to start from zero again, learning the language and culture" like they did in Japan.