Suggesting that even limited progress would be amenable, the head of the Tokyo office of the top U.N. body on refugees asked the Japanese public Tuesday for progress toward a better understanding of what accepting more refugees and displaced people would mean.

"Living and working with refugees is not just for the government," said Dirk Hebecker, head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' Tokyo office, speaking at a symposium in the capital marking World Refugee Day.

Hebecker said a stronger grasp by the public of how it could live and work together with refugees was needed in order to make it easier for the government to accept a larger number of applicants.