It had the appearance of a scandal in the making.
On March 12, a late-night scuffle broke out at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, causing an outcry over the alleged "inhumane" treatment of a person being held there.
That evening, relatives of Kurdish detainee Mehmet Colak and more than 50 activists tussled with immigration officials and police at the detention center in Minato Ward over its refusal to send the man to a hospital, as well as turning back two ambulances called by his family.