Chapter 8: Floors 3, 6, and 7

Visiting the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau (東京出入国在留管理局, Tōkyō shutsunyūkoku zairyū kanri-kyoku), ‘Shinagawa’ for short, was always a daunting and degrading experience for the narrators. The building serves two purposes: as the location of interactions with immigration authorities and as a detention centre. Asylum seekers regularly visit this building or any branch of the immigration bureau to submit their refugee application, take part in interviews for the application process, a...