On Wednesday, 21 October 2026, Tokyo said Kimitake Nakamura, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s European Affairs Bureau, had met in Moscow on Tuesday with Lyudmila Vorobyova, head of the Third Asian Department, which covers Japan. Japan asked for consular access as soon as possible and for the immediate release of the Hokkaido Shimbun journalist held by the FSB. A diplomatic request, not a sentence. The name in some notes, “Hitoshi Nakamura”, is not the one in the Japan Times: Kimitake.

The journalist, identified by Russia’s foreign ministry as Yuki Imai, was detained on 13 October on Sakhalin, on suspicion of espionage. An FSB accusation is not a conviction. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said “there is no such fact”. Japan has demanded his release. A Moscow court, according to Interfax, ordered him held until 12 December. Pre-trial custody is not a sentence for spying.

The Japan–Soviet consular treaty, still in force, provides for a meeting no later than four days after detention. On 16 October Japanese diplomats went to Lefortovo; the meeting did not happen. Russia cited, Sankei/Kyodo report, “internal procedures not yet complete”. On 20 October, a week after the arrest, the visit had still not taken place. Ambassador Akira Mutō asked for it on 19 October, also at the Russian foreign ministry.

Russia’s readout of the Nakamura–Vorobyova meeting, as reported by Yomiuri, does not mention the journalist. Vorobyova blamed the souring of ties on Japan’s “unfriendly attitude”. Silence in a readout is not a release. Kihara: relations are difficult; that is why the two sides must talk. It is not a swap deal.

Lefortovo is under the FSB. The transfer from Sakhalin to Moscow is not a finished trial. Collecting defence information is the FSB’s wording, not a published court finding. It is not Wednesday’s sentence.

Kihara called the missed visit within the time limit “extremely regrettable”. That wording is not a verdict. 12 December is a custody term, not a published trial date. Hokkaido Shimbun is not an intelligence service.

Image: Lefortovo prison, Moscow, 28 March 2016, A. Savin, Licence Art Libre, Wikimedia Commons. The building in 2016, not the October detention.

Sources consulted: Japan demands access to journalist detained in Russia as spy row persists — The Japan Times; MOFA European bureau chief visits Russia, demands immediate release of Hokkaido Shimbun reporter — Yomiuri.