A book titled “Prison Notes on ‘Studying’ in Belarus” has appeared in Japanese online stores. The author is Kii Terui. The cover is designed in Japanese and Russian.
The author describes the work as a “200-day prison internship.”
“I, having become fascinated with railway photography in the countries of the former USSR, set off in December 2024 to the last dictatorship in Europe — Belarus — in search of a new ‘shooting subject.’
My passion for railways led to a conflict with the police. During questioning, my attempt to hide my connection with a friend so as not to cause him trouble backfired — I was detained and then imprisoned.
In solitude, studying the Russian language in detention, I reflect on my gender identity, my relationship with my father, and life in general,” the author writes.
The publisher notes that the work is a “valuable document,” as it realistically describes detention conditions in Belarusian prisons, KGB interrogations, and the “path to release and pardon.”
Three Japanese nationals have been detained in Belarus. One of them is travel blogger “Eteru” (Ether2Kly), who is interested in railways. His detention became known in December 2024. The Belarusian railway community reported that the reason was a photo of a road bridge over railway tracks in the Homiel region.
Another detainee is Nakanishi Masatoshi. In March 2025, he was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony on charges of agent activity. In 2020, in the “anarchist case,” a citizen of Belarus and Japan, Akihiro Haevski-Hanada, was also detained.
All of them were released by pardon. Blogger “Eteru” was released in June 2025. Together with other released individuals, he was taken to Vilnius.
