A nonpartisan group of lawmakers lobbying to get Japanese abducted to North Korea back and working on behalf of relatives of the missing has been a big help to Shigeru Yokota.
His daughter, Megumi, was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13.
"The politicians' group helped the public become more aware of the abduction issue," said Yokota, who also heads a group of relatives of people believed abducted to North Korea. Although Pyongyang has said his daughter has died, Yokota remains unconvinced and is still trying to bring her home. "The lawmakers also acted as intermediaries between our group and the government."