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July 05, 2025
 

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ABDUCTIONS

Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 29, 2014
Abductee hopes hinge on Kim
Japan is confident some of the more than a dozen citizens abducted by North Korean agents over three decades ago are alive, and is counting on Kim Jong Un to return them, said the minister in charge of the issue.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 25, 2014
Japan awaits North Korean report on fate of abductees
It may soon become clear whether the Japanese government's decision to bet on the power and ability of North Korea's State Security Department to resolve the fate of past Japanese abductees was justified.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2014
Japan imposes asset freeze on North Korean shipping firm
The government on Friday froze the assets of the operator of a North Korean ship seized for smuggling arms, the Foreign Ministry announced, just as Tokyo is engaged in talks with Pyongyang to return Japanese citizens kidnapped decades ago by North Korean agents.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2014
Aging Yokotas pine for daughter's return from North Korea as abductee talks begin
Shigeru and Sakie Yokota may have their best chance yet of being reunited with their daughter, Megumi, 37 years after she was abducted by North Korean agents at age 13.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 18, 2014
Abductee probe stirs thoughts of snap poll
As Tokyo presses North Korea for information on the fate of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago, speculation is simmering that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could use a possible breakthrough on the emotive issue to call a snap election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2014
Identical twin clings to hope that sister is alive in North Korea
Misa Morimoto spoke to no one for 18 years about her identical twin sister who vanished when they were 20, not even to her own children. On the rare occasions when asked, she lied and said her sister was studying overseas.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2014
Suga denies report that Pyongyang provided list of Japanese living in North
The government denies a newspaper report that said it has received a list of about 30 Japanese living in North Korea, including abductees, from Pyongyang.
WORLD
Jul 8, 2014
Nigerian mother fasts as hope of rescue for abducted girls fades
As the weeks stretch into months since her 18-year-old daughter Hauwa was kidnapped with 275 other schoolgirls by Islamist militants in the Nigerian town of Chibok, Rahila Musa Bitrus fasts and prays for her safe return.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2014
While Japan presses North on abductions, South Korea victims are forgotten
Kim Young-nam was a teenager living on the coast of South Korea when he disappeared in 1978, only to turn up in North Korea. There, he met and married Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national abducted by North Korean agents on her way home from school a year earlier.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2014
Japan outlines sanctions reward for N. Korea's action on abductions
Japan will lift some of its sanctions on North Korea to reward the progress it has made in setting up an “unprecedented” panel to reinvestigate the abduction issue.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 30, 2014
North's missiles may have sent different message
As Japanese and North Korean envoys prepared to hold talks Tuesday, Tokyo faced the difficulty of assessing Pyongyang's seriousness in its promised inquiry into the fates of abducted citizens while apparently snubbing Japan and other neighbors Sunday with a pair of missiles fired into the ocean.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 12, 2014
As visitor numbers boom, North Korea becomes ultimate tourist trap
"Taking you to places where your mother would rather you stayed away from." That's how one Western travel agency advertises its tours to North Korea.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 30, 2014
Abe taking gamble by trusting North Korea
Prime Minister Abe is taking a big gamble by trusting notorious North Korea because disappointing results from the abduction probe could have a high political price.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2014
U.S. to send team in response to Nigeria schoolgirls' mass kidnapping
The United States has offered to send an American team of experts to Nigeria to support the government's response to the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by an Islamist militant group, President Barack Obama's administration said on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2014
U.S. journalist held by militants in eastern Ukraine
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said Tuesday they were holding an American journalist in the city of Slovyansk and the online news site Vice News said it was trying to secure the safety of its reporter Simon Ostrovsky.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2014
North Korea hopes for 'positive results' in talks with Japan
North Korea said on Tuesday that talks with Japan this month should include a demand for compensation for wartime Korean sex slaves and not only the issue of Japanese abducted decades ago, which it considers closed.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 24, 2014
Tokyo must use economic muscle in talks with North: Yokota's parents
The parents of Megumi Yokota, kidnapped by North Korea in 1977, express hope Tokyo will use Pyongyang's economic fragility as leverage to resolve the abduction issue at key talks next week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 24, 2014
The abduction drama game
Clearly there are people in Japan who do not want any rapprochement with Pyongyang — who are using the abduction drama to continue the image of a Japan threatened by enemies and needing strong military forces for defense.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 30, 2013
Rescues of South Koreans abducted by North come with controversy
In divided Korea, even the homecomings can be bitter.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2013
Pyongyang aid hinged to abductees; report hints Noda was told of survivors
Tokyo will never provide economic aid to North Korea unless Pyongyang safely returns all the Japanese nationals its agents abducted to North Korea, the Cabinet minister in charge of the issue said in a written statement Wednesday released after a report surfaced suggesting some victims may still be alive....
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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