International Pressure and Domestic Precedent: Japan's Resettlement of Indochinese Refugees

Abstract

Why did Japan decide to admit more than 11,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between 1975 and 2005? The conventional explanation is that Japan admitted these refugees because of pressure from foreign countries, and particularly from the United States. In this article, I argue that, in addition to foreign pressure, there was another factor that was important in causing Japan to admit these refugee populations. Japanese leaders agreed to admit Indochinese refugees because they came to believe that this would not set a precedent that would make Japan into a major destination for refugee resettlement.