Is Japan Deporting Illegal Immigrants by Rolling Them Up Like Sushi? No — It's a “Protective Sheet” Used Regardless of Nationality.[Fact Check]

Videos claiming that the Japanese government is wrapping troublesome foreign tourists and illegal immigrants in a sheet "like sushi" and deporting them have spread in English and Spanish — but this is inaccurate. Police use the sheet shown in the video regardless of the subject's nationality, and it is not used for the purpose of deportation.

※これは「日本が外国人観光客や不法移民を「寿司のように」簀巻きにして強制送還? 国籍を問わず使うシート【ファクトチェック】」の英語版です（This is the English version of the article mentioned above）。

CLAIM UNDER REVIEW

The Viral Claim

On February 9, 2026, a post in English spread on X stating: "Japan has begun the process of "sushification" of annoying tourists.If they see you causing trouble, they'll wrap you up and send you to be deported. Lol"

The post included a video showing several men in uniforms bearing the text "警視庁(Metropolitan Police Department)" wrapping a black man in a green sheet on a city street and placing him in a police car.

Why We're Fact-Checking This

As of April 6, the post had been reposted more than 15,000 times and viewed over 4.55 million times.

The post received many comments taking it at face value, such as "Genius move — zero tolerance for rudeness" and "Tourists should learn to respect the culture of the countries they visit."

A nearly identical post in Spanish — "The Takaichi administration wraps undocumented immigrants like sushi and deports them" — also spread widely. Given the significant international attention, we decided to fact-check the claim.

VERIFICATION

What the Video Shows

The video runs one minute and thirty seconds. It shows two police officers restraining a man who appears to be a black man on a street, speaking with him, then throwing him to the ground and pinning him down. 

Two more officers then join, and the video ends with them rolling the man in a green sheet to immobilize him and carrying him into a police car. There is background music but no audible dialogue, so the details of the exchange are unknown.

The post appears to describe the act of wrapping a person in the green sheet as "Sushification."

A "Protective Sheet" Used Regardless of Nationality

The post claims the sheet is used to deport "annoying tourists." Since the officers in the footage wore uniforms bearing the Metropolitan Police Department insignia, the Japan Fact-check Center (JFC) contacted the Metropolitan Police Department directly. 

The Metropolitan Police Department oversees policing in Tokyo.The department offered the following explanation:

"We refrain from commenting on individual cases, but the Metropolitan Police Department uses a 'protective sheet' to safely transport persons under protective custody. We are not aware of whether this is used nationwide. There is no restriction based on nationality regarding who the sheet may be used on."

VERDICT:Inaccurate

Videos claiming that the Japanese government wraps troublesome foreign tourists or undocumented immigrants in a sheet like a sushi roll and deports them have spread both domestically and internationally. While it is true that police use a "protective sheet," there is no restriction on the nationality of those it may be used on, and it is not used for the purpose of deporting foreign nationals. We therefore rate this claim Inaccurate.

Fact-checker’s Note

In this fact-check, we examined the claim that the Japanese government rolls up foreign nationals like sushi and deports them. While police do use a "protective sheet," it is not limited to use on foreign nationals, nor is it used for deportation. For these reasons, we rated the claim "Inaccurate."

We fact-checked this claim after being contacted by Verificat, a Spanish fact-checking organization. Verificat concluded that the protective sheet is a method for safely restraining violent or intoxicated individuals, and that there is no evidence it is specifically used to detain and deport migrants — rating the claim "False." (Verificat, "El Japó no embolica els migrants 'com si fossin sushi' per expulsar-los ni ha creat un ministeri de deportacions")

JFC will continue to work with fact-checking organizations around the world to verify not only misinformation spreading within Japan, but also false and misleading information about Japan spreading abroad.

In recent years, narratives such as "Japan has strict regulations targeting foreigners" or "Japan is cracking down on immigrants" have increasingly spread overseas in English and other languages. This reflects growing global interest in Japan — a country with relatively low levels of immigration — at a time when anti-immigration sentiment is rising worldwide. Among the content circulating on social media, there are many extreme examples and claims without factual basis.

SOURCE

Verificat. "El Japó no embolica els migrants 'com si fossin sushi' per expulsar-los ni ha creat un ministeri de deportacions." https://www.verificat.cat/japo-migrants-sushi-deportacions/, February 12, 2026. (Accessed April 7, 2026.)

Verified by:Ayako Nezu
Edited by: Kamome Fujimori, Daisuke Furuta