The top or most interesting stories from Japan for January 20
– The terrorist group ISIS has threatened to kill two Japanese hostages if a USD$200 million ransom is not paid withing 72 hours. The hostages, Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, appeared in the video with the English-accented executioner known as ‘Jihadi John’. (The Japan Times, The Japan News)
Whilst both Goto and Yukawa have been missing since last year, the release of this ransom video coincides with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s current tour of the Middle East. During this tour, Abe has pledged billions in yen of government loans to countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt to help them fight ISIS. The money, it has been stressed, is strictly non-military and to be spent on humanitarian infrastructure but still the executioner says Abe has “proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children and destroy the home of Muslims”.
It’s believed that this also marks the first time ISIS have directly demanded cash for hostages, before this it was normally demands for the nations to cease operations in ISIS territories. Responding to the video, both Abe and General Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga obfuscated on whether Japan will pay the ransom but have vowed to save the lives of the hostages.
– Government sources have told reporters that the video could be a composite, as the shadows in the video seem to face opposite directions.
– Kenji Goto is a freelance Japanese journalist whose last report was possibly this one dated October 22 for Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK. Goto is a passionate humanitarian and the author of several books on conflict and social injustice, his pastor testified to this.
Goto’s work had him working conflict zones from Afghanistan to Somalia, delivering speeches at UNICEF events or the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan and he was the author of several books, with one winning a Japanese children’s book award.
He also founded his own website ‘Independent Press‘ and is quoted in a story on his fellow captive, Haruna Yukawa, after the Yukawa went missing in August last year. It’s believe that Goto went missing after he went looking for Yukawa in Syria.
Goto was reporting extensively from the areas around Kobani, Syria, a Kurdish town. In October, the time of Goto’s last report, the battle for Kobani was well underway and it’s possible Goto went to cover it. The above report for NHK was filed from Suruc, Turkey, which is less than 20 kilometres from Kobani across the Turkish / Syrian border.
– Haruna Yukawa is, by accounts, a very troubled individual. Profiles indicate he was a loner, struggling with his identity after a series of personal tragedies, including the loss of his wife to lung cancer. Yukawa changed his name to Haruna, a feminine name in Japan, believing he was the reincarnation of a cross-dressing Japanese princess.
In 2013 he founded his own private security company, simply titled ‘Private Military Company‘. Despite some initial confusion, which painted Yukawa as a military contractor, it’s worth noting that he was PMC’s CEO and sole employee. His YouTube channels shows him building up a macho repertoire, including footage of him test firing an AK47, but it also has video of Kenji Goto reporting.
Yukawa was tagging along with Free Syrian Army fighters before they were overun by ISIS in mid-August, with graphic video footage showing his capture by the terrorist group.
– Meanwhile, in other news, two workers have lost their lives in separate accidents at Fukushima Nuclear Plant as its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) steps up cleanup efforts.
– A man in Osaka has been arrested for attempted murder after stringing up a wire across a path that injured a cyclist.
– On a similar note, cyclists caught evading the road rules may be court ordered to undergo retraining.
– A teenager that sparked a manhunt after posting videos on YouTube of him inserting toothpicks and other objects into foods, ‘planned’ to evade police until till March.
– Japan’s weaker yen has seen a rise in overseas tourists, with a nearly 30% increase in visitors last year.
