REPORTER: Jeung-eun Kim
This is the grainy footage from Iraq that shocked Japan - and the world. Nahoko Takato, a humanitarian aid worker, Soichiro Koriyama, a freelance photojournalist and 18-year-old Noriaki Imai, a freelance writer, were captured by a shadowy militia group near Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The captors said they would burn them alive if Japan didn't withdraw its forces from Iraq.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, JAPANESE FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER: (Translation): When we were captured I was a bit scared at first... actually very scared. Right after our capture, they suspected we were spies. They interrogated us, and showed a lot of anger. Then the video was filmed.
Surprisingly, apart from these terrifying moments, Soichiro Koriyama says he and the other hostages were well treated by their captors.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): After that they became friendly and treated us as guests, I'd say. They treated us well. Of course, we weren't altogether free. We went to the toilet blindfolded. Otherwise we were free, to talk, for example.
Unbeknown to the hostages, their capture had created a political storm in Japan and a crisis for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. His decision to send troops to Iraq is the first time Japanese forces have been sent to a battle zone since World War II.
CROWD, (Translation): Keep world peace.
Even though the forces are not involved in combat, their deployment has deeply divided the nation.
CROWD, (Translation): Withdraw the troops now!
HOSTAGE RELATIVE, (Translation): The three people went to Iraq to help with its reconstruction. They followed their belief that they could help no matter how small their contributions might be. Please remember that and don't give up on them. I want the Iraqis to understand that the three are well-meaning.
While the families of the hostages pleaded for mercy from the terrorists they also demanded Koizumi bring the troops home. It was a desperate cry that would come back to haunt them. But the Prime Minister wasn't about to back down.
REPORTER, (Translation): Will you withdraw the troops?
JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: (Translation): No.
The relatives were ecstatic when the hostages were released after nine days. But now the nation had turned against them. They were accused of jeopardising Japan's military mission in Iraq.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): We didn't know the video was being shown nor that our captors had made demands. They said to us things like... we'd thrown the government and people into chaos. When I arrived, I was surprised at the media build-up. I saw people with signs saying "You deserve what you got." For the first few days, it didn't really hit me, although I read newspaper and magazine articles critical of us.
It only became clear to me a bit later, when I saw some people criticising us on TV, and when I read papers, magazines and letters saying things like "Give back taxpayers' money".
One of the other hostages, Noriaki Imai, shown here after his release, contributes articles to this peace and environment magazine. And, according to the magazine's editor Shinichiro Kumagai, the public's response has been vitriolic.
SHINICHIRO KUMAGAI, EDITOR: (Translation): The most frequent message to our website goes, "As they went there of their own free will, they can't complain if they're killed." That's an example of the more moderate ones. The harsher ones are like "I want to see their bodies soon. I want to see their executed bodies." One of the hostages was Takato, a female. We got a lot of messages sexually insulting her.
After his return to Japan, Soichiro Koriyama was forced to leave his home to avoid threats and hate mail. He has been living in small hotels and apartments, and has moved five times in two months.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): It's addressed to Koriyama, the Idiot. It says here "Shame on you" and "Die, bastard." "Die, stupid trash!" I can't say the next bit on TV. "Don't waste taxpayers' money. Pay it back." It also calls me a communist. I keep on getting hate letters like this. I get heaps of them.
While the hostages were home safe, the controversy over their fate and the Japanese forces in Iraq had rocked the government and the nation. It was this man who played a key role in turning public opinion against the hostages. Seiju Yajima is the editor of 'Sankei Shimbun' a leading Japanese conservative daily.
SEIJU YAJIMA, EDITOR OF SANKEI SHIMBUN: (Translation): Our paper started saying that the hostages and their supporters must be blamed for their actions. By pursuing the government's responsibility, they pressed the government to change its policy. They used it for their political gains. Their argument then prompted our question "Shouldn't the hostages be held responsible too?" We asked if it was right to blame only the government. We simply pointed that out to put them in their place.
The newspaper editorialised heavily against the hostages even suggesting they had faked the chilling video. The caption with this photo reads, "This image was staged."
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): I want them to ask themselves if they believe what they're writing. If they say it's their paper's approach, is that real journalism? I want to ask them these questions. I wonder if the journalist himself believes what he's writing and feels convinced of it. I want to know that.
Not only did his newspaper describe the video as a fake, Seiji Yajima says terrorism could cause the Japanese Government to fall.
SEIJI YAJIMA, (Translation): If we give in once to a political demand from terrorists, they'll make another demand and then another. In the end this could bring down the Japanese Government.
Saruta Sayo is a leading human rights lawyer. She says that, while government would never comply with the terrorist demand to withdraw forces, it deliberately distorted the hostage crisis for its own advantage.
SARUTA SAYO: (Translation): So the government men started to feed reporters the theory that the hostages had staged the kidnapping. They didn't say it officially, of course. But a lot of journalists told me about it.
HATSUHISA TAKASHIMA, FOREIGN AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN: Actually the Japanese government is not as good as what you have said. They are very bad at public relations. So it was simply impossible for the government to manipulate if you use the word in such to change the criticism from one to the other.
According to the government, public opinion swung against the captives when their families demanded the troops be brought home.
HATSUHISA TAKASHIMA: The demand of the families of hostages drew lots of criticism from the general public, simply because the hostages were taken in the area supposed to be very dangerous and the area where the Japanese Government has been issuing the travel advisory not to go in, or evacuate if you are in.
Despite their earlier denials about media manipulation, the Foreign Affairs Ministry tried exactly that. Off camera, Hatsuhisa Takashima insinuated that the hostages' families had leftist tendencies, were known to have links to the Communist Party and were anti-establishment. None of which surprises Shinichiro Kumagai.
SHINICHIRO KUMAGAI, (Translation): The Government guided it. It initiated the criticism and fed those who wanted to criticise the hostages. A logic, a theory and an excuse to do so. That's what the government and the mass media did. They did it with a definite intention, which is to bash anti-government people.
By branding the hostages and their families as troublemakers, the media has played on deep-seated cultural concerns. Individualism is discouraged in Japan. Everyone is expected to be a part of the whole. This has been a long tradition here. Those who defy this unspoken rule must pay the price.
This is the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. It's a quiet place in a bustling city where people come to pay homage to the fallen soldiers. Those who have suffered at the hands of the Japanese military in the past would consider some who are buried here war criminals. But with troops again in the line of fire, no-one is preoccupied with the nation's infamous military history. Today it's the hostage issue that's on everyone's mind.
OLD MAN, (Translation): It wouldn't be wrong to focus more on their own responsibility. They did as they liked, blaming the state for the consequences, they were largely manipulated by left-wing groups.
WOMAN, (Translation): It wasn't so much the three hostages as their families' attitude that made me angry. Sending in the troops is our national policy. Abruptly, they demanded their withdrawal. They turned on the government. Their behaviour wasn't worthy of grown-ups. I'm actually angrier than I sound. I'm trying to avoid harsh words. I'd better stop now.
With public feeling running high against the hostages, it seemed US Secretary of State Colin Powell was their only defender.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: And so I'm pleased that these Japanese citizens were willing to put themselves at risk for a greater good.
When asked what he thought about Colin Powell's comment, Mr Takashima had this to say.
HATSUHISA TAKASHIMA: No comment.
At this anti-war conference, there's a different view. Junpei Yasuda is himself a former hostage. He was captured in Iraq just weeks after the first three hostages - by another terror group - and was soon released.
JUNPEI YASUDA, HOSTAGE: (Translation): We arrived at a farm that stretched to the horizon. They took us to a house on the farm. There was a man. He was surprised to see us. He asked us to sit down and feel at home. He didn't speak much English. He asked me why I had gone there. I said "To verify reports of Iraqis being killed."
YASUDA’S MOTHER, (Translation): He's five, his brother's seven, This is his first day at school.
Yasuda's mother was desperately worried for him and can understand why the other parents had called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
YASUDA'S MOTHER, (Translation): If had been one of these families.. I'd have done the same. Because I would have wanted him back.
Yasuda says the difference for his family is that he urged them to avoid politics and not ask the government for help - if and when they spoke.
JUNPEI YASUDA: (Translation): As my parents did not make a political comment, they weren't made the target of criticism. They were off the hook, so to speak.
While he is free to talk about his experiences in Iraq, he shies away from any political comment here in Japan.
JUNPEI YASUDA: (Translation): Expressing honest feelings can sometimes cause criticism. It can sometimes make you the target of criticism. It's wise to keep your mouth shut.
With public feeling still running high against Koriyama, he continues his life in the shadows. He tries to call the female hostage Sakato. But she's suffered a nervous breakdown and sends a message through her sister.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): She said we're not heroes, or victims or criminals. She wants a quite life. She wants to be left alone.
To add insult to injury, the Japanese Government has billed the hostages for the airfare home and the expenses for their medical check-up after the release - a total of US$6,000 each so far - even though Koriyama and the others told the government they wanted to use the return portion of their own ticket home.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): Because the government could do nothing until then they wanted at least to bring us home themselves. They flew us to Dubai, which made our tickets useless. The foreign ministry officials only wanted to escort us home. They wanted to be seen to have rescued us, that is all. They made us suit them then. Now they're making us cop the costs. At the time, I had no idea. But as the days went by I gradually realised we'd been used.
The deployment of 550 'self-defence' troops to Iraq was a very symbolic moment for Japan, but the Constitution stands in the way of greater military involvement. Human rights lawyer Saruta Sayo says the Constitution is now under threat.
SARUTA SAYO, (Translation): We do have a military. We do have soldiers. This means the constitution has already been undermined. Now, in 2004, it is in more danger. A bill to change the provision banning military forces as early as 2005 or 2006 is taking concrete shape.
With the Japanese Government pushing to expand its military role overseas, it has announced more 'self-defence' troops will be sent to Iraq. Meanwhile, Shinichiro Kumagai laments the impact the hostage crisis has had at home.
SHINICHIRO KUMAGAI, (Translation): One thing that has become clear since the hostages were maligned is that compassion, empathy towards others and a sense of social justice, are disappearing in Japan. I believe this is happening because of Japan's desire to strengthen its military and join with America to play a greater role on the world stage.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): The most painful thing is I can't go back to normal life. Also things like... my name and address have been made public. Comparing then and now, it was better being a hostage. I still feel like a hostage.
This is the grainy footage from Iraq that shocked Japan - and the world. Nahoko Takato, a humanitarian aid worker, Soichiro Koriyama, a freelance photojournalist and 18-year-old Noriaki Imai, a freelance writer, were captured by a shadowy militia group near Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The captors said they would burn them alive if Japan didn't withdraw its forces from Iraq.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, JAPANESE FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER: (Translation): When we were captured I was a bit scared at first... actually very scared. Right after our capture, they suspected we were spies. They interrogated us, and showed a lot of anger. Then the video was filmed.
Surprisingly, apart from these terrifying moments, Soichiro Koriyama says he and the other hostages were well treated by their captors.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): After that they became friendly and treated us as guests, I'd say. They treated us well. Of course, we weren't altogether free. We went to the toilet blindfolded. Otherwise we were free, to talk, for example.
Unbeknown to the hostages, their capture had created a political storm in Japan and a crisis for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. His decision to send troops to Iraq is the first time Japanese forces have been sent to a battle zone since World War II.
CROWD, (Translation): Keep world peace.
Even though the forces are not involved in combat, their deployment has deeply divided the nation.
CROWD, (Translation): Withdraw the troops now!
HOSTAGE RELATIVE, (Translation): The three people went to Iraq to help with its reconstruction. They followed their belief that they could help no matter how small their contributions might be. Please remember that and don't give up on them. I want the Iraqis to understand that the three are well-meaning.
While the families of the hostages pleaded for mercy from the terrorists they also demanded Koizumi bring the troops home. It was a desperate cry that would come back to haunt them. But the Prime Minister wasn't about to back down.
REPORTER, (Translation): Will you withdraw the troops?
JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: (Translation): No.
The relatives were ecstatic when the hostages were released after nine days. But now the nation had turned against them. They were accused of jeopardising Japan's military mission in Iraq.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): We didn't know the video was being shown nor that our captors had made demands. They said to us things like... we'd thrown the government and people into chaos. When I arrived, I was surprised at the media build-up. I saw people with signs saying "You deserve what you got." For the first few days, it didn't really hit me, although I read newspaper and magazine articles critical of us.
It only became clear to me a bit later, when I saw some people criticising us on TV, and when I read papers, magazines and letters saying things like "Give back taxpayers' money".
One of the other hostages, Noriaki Imai, shown here after his release, contributes articles to this peace and environment magazine. And, according to the magazine's editor Shinichiro Kumagai, the public's response has been vitriolic.
SHINICHIRO KUMAGAI, EDITOR: (Translation): The most frequent message to our website goes, "As they went there of their own free will, they can't complain if they're killed." That's an example of the more moderate ones. The harsher ones are like "I want to see their bodies soon. I want to see their executed bodies." One of the hostages was Takato, a female. We got a lot of messages sexually insulting her.
After his return to Japan, Soichiro Koriyama was forced to leave his home to avoid threats and hate mail. He has been living in small hotels and apartments, and has moved five times in two months.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): It's addressed to Koriyama, the Idiot. It says here "Shame on you" and "Die, bastard." "Die, stupid trash!" I can't say the next bit on TV. "Don't waste taxpayers' money. Pay it back." It also calls me a communist. I keep on getting hate letters like this. I get heaps of them.
While the hostages were home safe, the controversy over their fate and the Japanese forces in Iraq had rocked the government and the nation. It was this man who played a key role in turning public opinion against the hostages. Seiju Yajima is the editor of 'Sankei Shimbun' a leading Japanese conservative daily.
SEIJU YAJIMA, EDITOR OF SANKEI SHIMBUN: (Translation): Our paper started saying that the hostages and their supporters must be blamed for their actions. By pursuing the government's responsibility, they pressed the government to change its policy. They used it for their political gains. Their argument then prompted our question "Shouldn't the hostages be held responsible too?" We asked if it was right to blame only the government. We simply pointed that out to put them in their place.
The newspaper editorialised heavily against the hostages even suggesting they had faked the chilling video. The caption with this photo reads, "This image was staged."
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): I want them to ask themselves if they believe what they're writing. If they say it's their paper's approach, is that real journalism? I want to ask them these questions. I wonder if the journalist himself believes what he's writing and feels convinced of it. I want to know that.
Not only did his newspaper describe the video as a fake, Seiji Yajima says terrorism could cause the Japanese Government to fall.
SEIJI YAJIMA, (Translation): If we give in once to a political demand from terrorists, they'll make another demand and then another. In the end this could bring down the Japanese Government.
Saruta Sayo is a leading human rights lawyer. She says that, while government would never comply with the terrorist demand to withdraw forces, it deliberately distorted the hostage crisis for its own advantage.
SARUTA SAYO: (Translation): So the government men started to feed reporters the theory that the hostages had staged the kidnapping. They didn't say it officially, of course. But a lot of journalists told me about it.
HATSUHISA TAKASHIMA, FOREIGN AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN: Actually the Japanese government is not as good as what you have said. They are very bad at public relations. So it was simply impossible for the government to manipulate if you use the word in such to change the criticism from one to the other.
According to the government, public opinion swung against the captives when their families demanded the troops be brought home.
HATSUHISA TAKASHIMA: The demand of the families of hostages drew lots of criticism from the general public, simply because the hostages were taken in the area supposed to be very dangerous and the area where the Japanese Government has been issuing the travel advisory not to go in, or evacuate if you are in.
Despite their earlier denials about media manipulation, the Foreign Affairs Ministry tried exactly that. Off camera, Hatsuhisa Takashima insinuated that the hostages' families had leftist tendencies, were known to have links to the Communist Party and were anti-establishment. None of which surprises Shinichiro Kumagai.
SHINICHIRO KUMAGAI, (Translation): The Government guided it. It initiated the criticism and fed those who wanted to criticise the hostages. A logic, a theory and an excuse to do so. That's what the government and the mass media did. They did it with a definite intention, which is to bash anti-government people.
By branding the hostages and their families as troublemakers, the media has played on deep-seated cultural concerns. Individualism is discouraged in Japan. Everyone is expected to be a part of the whole. This has been a long tradition here. Those who defy this unspoken rule must pay the price.
This is the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. It's a quiet place in a bustling city where people come to pay homage to the fallen soldiers. Those who have suffered at the hands of the Japanese military in the past would consider some who are buried here war criminals. But with troops again in the line of fire, no-one is preoccupied with the nation's infamous military history. Today it's the hostage issue that's on everyone's mind.
OLD MAN, (Translation): It wouldn't be wrong to focus more on their own responsibility. They did as they liked, blaming the state for the consequences, they were largely manipulated by left-wing groups.
WOMAN, (Translation): It wasn't so much the three hostages as their families' attitude that made me angry. Sending in the troops is our national policy. Abruptly, they demanded their withdrawal. They turned on the government. Their behaviour wasn't worthy of grown-ups. I'm actually angrier than I sound. I'm trying to avoid harsh words. I'd better stop now.
With public feeling running high against the hostages, it seemed US Secretary of State Colin Powell was their only defender.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: And so I'm pleased that these Japanese citizens were willing to put themselves at risk for a greater good.
When asked what he thought about Colin Powell's comment, Mr Takashima had this to say.
HATSUHISA TAKASHIMA: No comment.
At this anti-war conference, there's a different view. Junpei Yasuda is himself a former hostage. He was captured in Iraq just weeks after the first three hostages - by another terror group - and was soon released.
JUNPEI YASUDA, HOSTAGE: (Translation): We arrived at a farm that stretched to the horizon. They took us to a house on the farm. There was a man. He was surprised to see us. He asked us to sit down and feel at home. He didn't speak much English. He asked me why I had gone there. I said "To verify reports of Iraqis being killed."
YASUDA’S MOTHER, (Translation): He's five, his brother's seven, This is his first day at school.
Yasuda's mother was desperately worried for him and can understand why the other parents had called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
YASUDA'S MOTHER, (Translation): If had been one of these families.. I'd have done the same. Because I would have wanted him back.
Yasuda says the difference for his family is that he urged them to avoid politics and not ask the government for help - if and when they spoke.
JUNPEI YASUDA: (Translation): As my parents did not make a political comment, they weren't made the target of criticism. They were off the hook, so to speak.
While he is free to talk about his experiences in Iraq, he shies away from any political comment here in Japan.
JUNPEI YASUDA: (Translation): Expressing honest feelings can sometimes cause criticism. It can sometimes make you the target of criticism. It's wise to keep your mouth shut.
With public feeling still running high against Koriyama, he continues his life in the shadows. He tries to call the female hostage Sakato. But she's suffered a nervous breakdown and sends a message through her sister.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): She said we're not heroes, or victims or criminals. She wants a quite life. She wants to be left alone.
To add insult to injury, the Japanese Government has billed the hostages for the airfare home and the expenses for their medical check-up after the release - a total of US$6,000 each so far - even though Koriyama and the others told the government they wanted to use the return portion of their own ticket home.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): Because the government could do nothing until then they wanted at least to bring us home themselves. They flew us to Dubai, which made our tickets useless. The foreign ministry officials only wanted to escort us home. They wanted to be seen to have rescued us, that is all. They made us suit them then. Now they're making us cop the costs. At the time, I had no idea. But as the days went by I gradually realised we'd been used.
The deployment of 550 'self-defence' troops to Iraq was a very symbolic moment for Japan, but the Constitution stands in the way of greater military involvement. Human rights lawyer Saruta Sayo says the Constitution is now under threat.
SARUTA SAYO, (Translation): We do have a military. We do have soldiers. This means the constitution has already been undermined. Now, in 2004, it is in more danger. A bill to change the provision banning military forces as early as 2005 or 2006 is taking concrete shape.
With the Japanese Government pushing to expand its military role overseas, it has announced more 'self-defence' troops will be sent to Iraq. Meanwhile, Shinichiro Kumagai laments the impact the hostage crisis has had at home.
SHINICHIRO KUMAGAI, (Translation): One thing that has become clear since the hostages were maligned is that compassion, empathy towards others and a sense of social justice, are disappearing in Japan. I believe this is happening because of Japan's desire to strengthen its military and join with America to play a greater role on the world stage.
SOICHIRO KORIYAMA, (Translation): The most painful thing is I can't go back to normal life. Also things like... my name and address have been made public. Comparing then and now, it was better being a hostage. I still feel like a hostage.