During these past weeks me and my band, that was supposed to tour in Japan, confronted an immense load of s* coming from both the authorities/Immigration and also from some club owners. Both Carlos (Ezequiel) and Benito (Gonzalez) were denied (tourist) visas for Japan, and I tried 'till the very last moment, to get us Certificates of Eligibility, to apply for an Entertainment Visa from our respective consulates of Japan. However, there was not enough time for that, so both Carlos and Benito were left on the shore.
Last weekend I arrived at Osaka KIX International Airport, and was taken to an interrogation room for 4 hours. I would not be exaggerating much, if I said it was pure torture. They did not let me move for more than 4 hours, and me, with my serious back problems, had to sit on this wooden bench without moving. They had gathered a whole bunch of 'evidence of my/our earlier activities in Japan'. And they had made up their minds, already in advance, to send me back. But I refused to believe that was the only option and tried to fight back as much as I could. With the help of Koyo Conservatory and Kosuke Sawa, they finally released me.
A couple of days later Tuure (Koski) was arriving at the same airport, and they used the same method- he was taken to that interrogation room (they didn't have the thumb-screws there, but otherwise the room could have been used as a medieval torture chamber). And they told him the same stories, but kept pushing obviously still even harder that at some point, after 4-5 hours, Tuure had to sign off the document of his deportation. Then he was let into the terminal - without passport - and no permission to move out from the building. They kept him at the airport 26 hours, before he was taken to the plane back home.
NICE JOB, JAPAN!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
I'll finish the story when I get home. Meanwhile- thanks for reading, be well!