The Foreign Ministry, in charge of ensuring the safety of Japanese citizens overseas, is powerless to stop them from entering Iraq, despite a series of kidnappings there involving Japanese and other people this year.
The ministry stressed Wednesday that it had tried in vain to contact Shosei Koda, who was reportedly taken hostage by an Islamic extremist group, to persuade him to leave Iraq.
The ministry received information Oct. 20 that he was staying in Baghdad and attempted to get in touch with him via Japanese embassies in the region.