This paper discusses the socio-political significance of Japan’s Pilot Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP). It asks three questions: why Japan adopted this program, why the program has failed to meet its targets, and whether this program signals a significant shift in Japan’s restrictive policies towards refugees and immigration more broadly. Insights from critical race theory suggest that the context of race remains a key determinant for understanding Japan’s historical and contemporary refugee policies and discourse. The paper concludes that embedded racism was prevalent in decisions surrounding the Pilot RRP and as such, despite the appearance of change, race continues to be solidly rooted in Japan’s policies and discourses. In such light, any serious strategy to revamp immigration and refugee policies in Japan needs to bring the country’s history of racism to the forefront of the discussion.