Here’s what ordinary Japanese people on the street think about refugees in Japan, a country with a 99 percent rejection rate for refugees.

YouTuber That Japanese Man Yuta has a knack for getting Japanese people on the street to talk candidly about a range of topics that many would shy away from discussing, including politics. In his newest video, he asks regular Japanese people what they think of Japan’s stance towards refugees.

To add a little context before we begin, Germany accepted more than 1 million refugees in 2015. Japan accepted 27 and rejected 99 percent of applicants.

Let’s jump right in and watch the video.

As expected, the interviewees land on several points of discussion that often come up when discussing this subject: firstly, a concern that accepting refugees would put a strain on the host country’s resources.

And secondly, the concept of “Citizens first”, with an interviewee pointing out that the Japanese government should prioritize solving domestic issues first; a sentiment that mirrors Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statements at the UN General Assembly in New York in 2015. The PM went on record to say that Japan should tackle its issues of a low birth rate, ageing population and lack of women in the workforce before extending a helping hand to those from other countries.

(Also see our coverage of Yuta’s video, What do Japanese people think of their country’s low birthrate?)

Another potential cause for opposing the acceptance of refugees in large number, which the Japanese interviewees brought up, was the idea that accepting those from different cultures would erode Japanese culture in some way. Perhaps this is not unexpected from a country that closed itself to the outside world for 200 years in a policy known as Sakoku, and which has a 98.6 percent ethnic Japanese population.

As always, an informative and balanced interview from Yuta.

Now it’s time to give us your opinion; do you think Japan should accept more refugees?

Source and screenshots: YouTube/That Japanese Man Yuta