A Japanese Who Served Time In A Belarusian Prison Wrote A Book About It

It will be released on March 25.

Japanese Kii Terchi has released a book about how he was imprisoned in Belarus and interrogated by the KGB because of his interest in trains. Belarusian propaganda has already reacted to it, writes "Zerkalo".

The release date of the book "Prison Notes about "studying" in Belarus" by author Kiy Terci is March 25, 2026. It is available for purchase on various sites, including Amazon.

The author's description states the following:

"Having a passion for photographing railroads in the former Soviet Union, in December 2024 I traveled to Belarus, Europe's last dictatorship, in search of a new subject. My hobby turned into police intervention. During interrogation, my attempt to hide my connection with my friends so as not to get them in trouble played against me - I was detained and then sent to prison. Alone in detention and learning Russian, I reflect: on my gender identity, on my relationship with my father, and on life in general. This is a diary of 'prison learning' 200 days long. A documentary essay."

The editor's note says that "the phrase 'detained and imprisoned for filming trains in Belarus' may sound unambiguous and cause rather negative reactions."

"However, the path to these events was for the author full of internal conflicts, and even in prison he continues to worry and doubt. The main strength of this book is in its honest and open description of his inner hesitations and human vulnerability. In addition, the book is valuable as a testimony to reality: it describes in detail the conditions of detention in prison in Belarus, interrogations in the KGB and the path to release through pardon," says the editor.

In the evening of March 24, one of the Belarusian propaganda TV channels reacted to the imminent release of the book. The work was not read there, but condemned. The authors believe that the book is about how "punishers captured and imprisoned" Japanese Terui Atsuki. According to the propagandists, he was interested in "border towns and villages with Ukraine, and the author had a special 'love' for trains". As a result, he was detained, tried, and in June 2025 was pardoned and expelled from the country.

The detention of Japanese citizens in Belarus was reported in 2024. Apparently, the author of the book is a foreigner, who was detained on December 1, 2024 in Kalinkovichi. Japanese media wrote that it could be a travel blogger, the author of the blog "Eteru," who traveled around the world and talked about local transport and infrastructure. The blog description indicated that "Eteru" was passionate about Japanese mail and railroads abroad.

At least one Japanese citizen was among the political prisoners released and deported abroad in December 2025.

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