The Foreign Ministry is considering issuing a new passport that would allow limited travel overseas to a freelance photographer after it confiscated his previous one to stop him from going to Syria, a diplomatic source said.
The passport would likely prevent Yuichi Sugimoto, 58, from entering countries for which the Foreign Ministry has issued evacuation advisories, the source said Monday. Syria is one such country.
Sugimoto rejected the ministry's idea, saying: "It's unacceptable if travel to conflict-torn areas such as the Middle East would be limited. How will other democracies look at the act of closing the doors for journalists who plan to go out on news coverage?"