The shocking emergence of a video showing missing reporter Jumpei Yasuda highlights the government's reluctance to address the abduction, despite being long aware of the journalist's plight.
On Thursday, Nils Bildt, head of the security consultancy CTSS Japan, criticized the Japanese government for its reluctance to get involved, saying the recent development could have been avoided. He said his company was the first to receive information about Yasuda's disappearance last July.
Bildt said Yasuda's case has lacked public exposure, and that without it "the government has been able to simply excuse themselves by not doing anything."