“Ushiku” Director Thomas Ash Discusses His Covert Reporting on Immigration Detainees

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Ishikawa Taiga questions Minister of Justice Mori Masako regarding the issue of immigration detention in a March 2020 House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting. (Courtesy Thomas Ash)

Kurdish detainee Deniz. He came to Japan in 2007 and married a Japanese woman four years later. Repeated applications for refugee recognition were rejected, and he has been detained at Ushiku for many years now. (© 2021 Thomas Ash)

Deniz, half-naked, being suppressed by immigration officers. (Courtesy Deniz’s legal team)

In March 2020, Deniz was reunited with his wife when he was temporarily released from Ushiku. (© 2021 Thomas Ash)

Ushiku director Thomas Ash. (© 2021 Thomas Ash)

(© 2021 Thomas Ash)