Japan shocked, perplexed after 24-year-old Japanese traveler taken ...
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Shosei Koda did not go to Iraq to distribute aid, reconstruct the country or strike it rich in the oil business. He was not connected with Japan&#39;s government or its armed forces.
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bones handed over then were not, as Pyongyang claimed, those of the abducted Japanese citizens. &quot;It (North Korea) no longer feels that any DPRK-Japan inter-governmental contact is meaningful,&quot; he added.
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Tokyo - The parents of a 24-year-old Japanese traveller who was kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq said on Sunday they hoped for peace in the insurgency-torn country and apologised for the trouble caused by the crisis.
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States, which may pave the way for him to leave Japan after almost half a year in detention. He has been held in Japan since July when he was stopped with a passport that US officials said was invalid.
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Japan's government was still in the dark  about a Japanese held hostage in Iraq on Thursday, less than 24  hours before a deadline set by his captors, who have threatened  to behead the young man unless Japan withdraws its troops.
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After reading a book this year about serious flaws in Japan's pension system, retired deliveryman Yoshikazu Hirano thought he'd check his own records just to be safe. He's glad he did: The 74-year-old discovered the government had shortchanged him by 460,000 yen ($3,770) in benefits he accrued while driving a truck for three years in the 1950s and 60s.
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The number of Japanese homeless is on the rise, and cultural attitudes about age are exacerbating the situation.
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TOKYO -- Japan scrambled yesterday to win the release of a 24-year-old Japanese man taken hostage by Islamic militants in Iraq, dispatching high-level diplomats to the Middle East and launching an appeal for his freedom on Arabic television.
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TOKYO - A 77-year-old Japanese woman mistakenly gave away a kimono containing $18,700 she had sewn into the garment, but the cash was returned about a month later, a police spokesman said Friday.
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TONY EASTLEY: The Japanese Government says it will continue its mission in Iraq, despite the beheading of one of its citizens. The troop deployment is unpopular in Japan, but surprisingly, the political fallout
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Japan&#39;s prime minister on Monday said he was not satisfied with the outcome of North Korea&#39;s investigation into the fate of several Japanese nationals abducted decades ago by the communist country&#39;s spies.
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arrived on a remote island in northern Japan to start a new life with his Japanese wife and their two daughters. court-martial last month after saying he deserted from South Korea because he was frightened.
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By Natalie Obiko Pearson, Associated Press, 10/30/2004 01:52. TOKYO  A body resembling a Japanese hostage held by Islamic militants has been found in Iraq, the government announced Saturday, and officials
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Japan scrambled Wednesday to win the release a 24-year old Japanese man taken hostage by Islamic militants in Iraq, dispatching high level diplomats to the middle east and launching an appeal for his freedom on Arabic television.
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Japan and North Korea held a second day of talks Sunday in a dispute over Japanese nationals abducted by the North decades ago. Japan seized the occasion to express concern North
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Senior Japanese officials expressed anger Tuesday after the arrest of a U.S. Marine accused of raping a 14-year-old girl on the southern island of Okinawa, with the prime minister calling the situation "unforgivable."
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Japan is to fingerprint and photograph foreigners entering the country from next month in an anti-terrorism policy that is stirring anger among foreign residents and human rights activists.