Japan earthquake drama overshadows hostage death
472107
severed head of a man found in Baghdad were of Koda. Newspapers reported his killing. Japan on October 23, killing at least 36 people and forcing 100,000 from their homes.
758137
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.
467357
Japan grew more worried on Friday about  the fate of a Japanese hostage in Iraq as time passed after the  expiry of deadline set by his captors to behead him unless  Tokyo withdrew its troops.
72854
Japan sought international help on Thursday for a Japanese man held hostage in Iraq, with less than 24 hours to go for a deadline set by his captors to behead him unless Tokyo withdraws its troops.
109380
A Japanese man taken hostage in Iraq earlier this week has been killed by his abductors after the Japanese government refused to meet their demands to withdraw its troops from the region, Kyodo News agency reported early Saturday.
106942
Shocked by the murder of a kidnapped Japanese hostage in Iraq, the Japanese government Sunday denounced the slaying but vowed to keep its forces there.
325942
Japanese rescuers Thursday confirmed the death of a 3-year-old girl whose body is still trapped in a car under rubble from Saturday&#39;s strong earthquakes.
59656
Strong aftershocks are still shaking northern Japan after the country&#39;s deadliest earthquake in nine years killed at least 24 people.
407922
The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that rocked Japan over the weekend jumped to 31 on Tuesday as four people, mostly elderly, died from strokes or cerebral hemorrhages due to stress of their ordeal.
312382
A strong aftershock measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted north Japan&#39;s Niigata Prefecture Monday morning, leading the death toll from the three major quakes that hit the prefecture Saturday to reach 24, with more than 2,000 injured.
676847
TOKYO - The beheading of a Japanese hostage and the closely fought US presidential election have injected new caution into Tokyoâs deliberations on whether to extend its historic troop dispatch to Iraq.
152500
TOKYO - Japan sought international help Wednesday to secure the release of a Japanese man taken hostage in Iraq and pledged to do its utmost to gain his freedom after refusing to bow to the kidnappers&#39; threat to behead him unless Japan withdraws its
119618
Strong aftershocks continued to shake Niigata Prefecture and surrounding areas on Monday as the death toll from the series of quakes that struck the region along the Sea of Japan
264027
Strong aftershocks are still shaking northern Japan after the country&#39;s deadliest earthquake in nine years killed at least 18 people.
71839
Japan has been appealing for international help to secure the release of a Japanese man kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq and threatened with death.
37467
OJIYA, Japan  - Strong aftershocks shook northern  Japan on Sunday after the country's deadliest earthquake in  nine years killed at least 18 people and injured some 1,500 as  houses collapsed, roads crumbled and rail tracks buckled.
140367
Tokyo: Japan said on Friday it had not given up hope for a Japanese hostage in Iraq after a report he may have been killed, as the 24-year-old&#39;s mother pleaded to Islamic militants to spare him.