TOKYO (TR) – Yua Fukuda, a 21-year-old adult video (AV) actress who traveled to New Zealand for a solo vacation earlier this year, was denied entry, interrogated for six hours and thrown into a police holding cell after immigration officials suspected her of planning to engage in sex work.
Yua Fukuda, who recently transitioned from a gravure idol to the AV industry, intended to visit New Zealand for stargazing. Instead, she ended up detained and deported, sparking a fierce debate online about overseas border control and sex workers, reports News Post Seven (July 25).
Arriving at the airport in a casual sweatshirt and sweatpants after a grueling 20-hour transit, Fukuda was stopped at immigration. Following a marathon six-hour interrogation where she was accused of traveling for prostitution, she was transferred to a local police station to await a return flight.
“When I got to the station, I was exhausted and begged the officers to at least let me change my underwear,” Fukuda recalled. “The female officer initially refused but eventually allowed it, turning her back while I changed. They gave me a bottle of water and a dry, tasteless sandwich.”
“Like a criminal”
Fukuda ate the sandwich in a holding cell, an experience she said brought her to tears.
“I wasn’t charged with a crime, they were just holding me until a return flight could be booked. But I couldn’t help wondering why I was being thrown into a jail cell like a criminal,” she said.
The cell, roughly the size of four tatami mats, contained a bare toilet and a bed with a flimsy mattress.
“It had this indescribable, awful smell,” Fukuda said. “I didn’t see any other detainees, but I could hear men screaming ‘Let me out!’ from somewhere nearby. It was dim, smelly, and loud. I just looked around, felt overwhelmed with despair, and started crying. I couldn’t sleep a wink.”
Granted permission to bring two books into the cell, she passed the time reading the novel “The Little Prince” and a self-help book titled “Erotic Capital.”
Denied the allegations
Fukuda vehemently denied the allegations of entering the country for sex work.
“I have never engaged in overseas prostitution, and I never will,” she stated. “In my industry, I sell sex, but overseas prostitution is selling your life. The risk of arrest or even murder is too high. I won’t get involved in anything where I can’t protect myself.”
After sharing her ordeal on X in June, the incident went viral. Internet entrepreneur and 2channel founder Hiroyuki weighed in, stating that being denied entry is simply “the reality” for women in her profession.
Fukuda also dismissed accusations that she orchestrated the incident for a publicity stunt. “I would never put myself through something this grueling just to go viral,” she laughed, though she conceded that the skepticism from figures like Hiroyuki was “fair enough.”
Ultimately, Fukuda’s passport was stamped with a red entry denial. She lost approximately 150,000 yen on her return flight, along with unrefunded hotel and bus reservations.
Future solo travels
The deportation may severely impact her dream of traveling to 30 countries; she has currently visited seven. According to Jun Ueno, a lawyer at Idea Partners Law Office familiar with entry disputes, an entry denial record can make securing future travel visas significantly more difficult, though he noted border controls operate on strict behavioral profiling rather than just targeting specific occupations.
“If a tourist claims to be visiting but has no concrete itinerary, it’s not unusual for immigration to suspect alternative motives, such as illegal work or intending to overstay,” Ueno explained.
While Fukuda remains pessimistic about her future solo travels, she hopes her nightmare serves as a cautionary tale for other young travelers facing increasingly strict overseas immigration crackdowns.
