The Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau is seen in this image taken from a Mainichi Shimbun helicopter in Minato Ward, Tokyo. (Mainichi)

       TOKYO -- An American man who says he was assaulted by Immigration Services Agency of Japan staff while detained at its Tokyo bureau and left with difficulties walking has launched a suit against the Japanese government on Nov. 24 for 30 million yen (about $260,000) in damages.

       Mark Gordon, 52, has filed his case with the Tokyo District Court. According to the complaint, Gordon came to Japan as the spouse of a Japanese national in 1999. He returned to the U.S. for a hernia operation in 2013, and in November 2018 he attempted to reenter Japan. But on the basis that his re-entry period approved when he left the country had expired, his entry was rejected. He did not comply with instructions to return to the U.S., and was detained at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau.

       It is claimed that in June 2020, when he didn't accept soap being handed out as part of coronavirus prevention measures, about eight members of staff used their knees to push Gordon's head and waist down, and kicked him in the back while he was restrained with handcuffs, among other violent acts. Gordon has claimed that he suffered damage to his hipbone.

       In May 2021, he was granted temporary release. At a press conference, Gordon said that even now his back hurts, and that at night he can't sleep when he remembers what happened. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan has stated that it "wishes to examine the contents of the complaint and take an appropriate response."

       (Japanese original by Kazuhiro Toyama, Tokyo City News Department)

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