国連強制的失踪作業部会に提出したレポート（令和7年-2025-9月2日）

To: Ms. Gabriella Citroni, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Ms. Elizabeth Salmón, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Mr. Bernard Duhaime, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Ms. Laura Nyirinkindi, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls

2 September 2025 (updated 5 September 2025)

Thank you very much for the opportunity to make a statement at the session held in Bangkok on 2 May 2025. It is heartening for the families of the missing persons and for us that the Working Group issued a clear report to Kim Jong-un, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
In addition to those who were named in the recent <AL PRK 1/2025>, we would like to inform you of those who we would like to request North Korea to provide information and improve the human rights situation in North Korea. Please note that all of the following information is publicly available in Japanese, and no special consideration is required for its handling by the Working Group.

We, COMJAN (Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea), have been conducting research on the abduction issue for 22 years since our establishment. The total number of missing persons on our list is approximately 470, of which 270 have been made public. The Japanese police have reported that there are approximately 900 “possibly abducted” missing persons, and most of the 470 are included in this 900. 535 of the 900 are publicly available, and the FAMP-DPRK (Family Association of the Missing Persons Probably Related to the DPRK) last year submitted a list in English to the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances last year of 535 of the 900 names that are publicly available.
We have divided the publicly available list of Missing Persons Probably Related to North Korea into three categories: Definitely abducted, Probably abducted, and Possibly abducted.
Note: Some of the place names below have changed since the time of disappearance due to local government mergers.

1. Definitely abducted (5 persons)
Three of them are on the <AL PRK 1/2025>. Mr. Shoji Terakoshi, Mr. Soto-o Terakoshi, and Mr. Takeshi Terakoshi. There are two others.
1-1 Ms. Kimiko Fukudome (also Fukutome / Born on 1 January 1952 / Former security guard)
In July 1976, she left Japan saying she was going to Mongolia and has been missing ever since. At the time, Japan had no diplomatic relations with Mongolia. Kimiko had worked at the reception desk of Universe Trading Company, which appears in information related to Hideko Watanabe, after being dispatched by the security company where she had been employed prior to her disappearance. It is speculated that she was lured into North Korea while searching for a route to travel and was unable to leave. The destination listed on her passport application was Sweden.
On 31 March 1970, a Japan Airlines domestic passenger aircraft was hijacked, and the perpetrators fled to North Korea (“Yodo-go Incident”). Kimiko was forced to marry one of the hijackers, Takeshi Okamoto. Kimiko entered Japan on 9 March 1980, and departed on 24 June of the same year. This is believed to have been a trial period to assess her suitability as an operative under surveillance. She was reported to have died in North Korea in 1988 alongside her husband Takeshi, according to the hijackers, though there are also reports that she survived.
1-2 Mr. Kenzo Kozumi (or Kosumi Born on 15 January 1938 / Worker)
He is believed to have been abducted in 1979-80. In 1980, a North Korean agent, Choi Seung-cheol, moved Mr. Kozumi's family register from Hokkaido to Tokyo, obtained a driver's license and passport in the name of “Kenzo Kozumi,” and illegally traveled to Japan and abroad to conduct operational activities. Mr. Kozumi is believed to have been abducted or murdered by North Korea after his identity was stolen (Nishiarai Incident).

2. Probably abducted (77 persons)
The following 17 of these individuals are listed in <AL PRK 1/2025>.

Keigoro Kamiya, Keigo Kamiya, Norihito Kamiya, Hayami Kamiya, Tomiyasu Yakura, Susumu Fujita (Saitama Prefecture), Kaoru Kimura, Takako Ikushima, Hiroshi Saito, Yoichiro Tokunaga, Masayuki Oyashiki, Yoshihiko Hagimoto, Tomiko Kunihiro, Yasuo Miyazawa, Nobuo Hidaka, Miho Yamamoto, Eriko Kunii

In addition, there are other missing persons who fall under the following persons classified as ”Probably abducted” in COMJAN's list.
2-1 Mr. Shin Fujita (Born on 5 September 1931 / company employee)
Disappeared in Tokyo in 1960. Susumu Fujita, listed in <AL PRK 1/2025>, is Shin’s nephew (However, the connection between the two disappearances is unclear).
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-2 Ms. Teruko Kase (Born on 4 May 1944 / Domestic helper)
Disappeared in 1962 in Asahi City, Chiba Prefecture. In 2004, it was announced that a photo allegedly taken from North Korea by a North Korean defector was “extremely likely to be her” as a result of an identification test. In 2017, the government announced that this photo was of a different person in a third country, but it is difficult to believe that it is a different person, such as the characteristics of the conjunctival (white eye) area.
2-3 Mr. Susumu Fujita (Niigata Prefecture / Born on 25 March 1948 / High school student)
Susumu left his home in Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture on 26 March 1965 and disappeared.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-4 Mr. Toshiko Sakamoto (Born on 22 November 1942 / Helping her family in the bathhouse business)
Disappeared on 9 June 1965 from her home in Kita ward, Tokyo.
A female North Korean defector testified that she had seen him at the University of Political Science around 1993, although it is not clear. Another North Korean defector, Ho Gang-il, testified that he saw a similar woman at a foreign currency store selling Japanese goods in the Moranbong area of Pyongyang City for a few months to six months around 2002.

2-5 Ms. Shinobu Yagi (Born on 27 January 1948 / Beautician)
On 15 January 1968, she went missing in Nyuzen Town, Toyama Prefecture. She disappeared around the same time as Shin-ichi Mizushima (case 2-7) and the locations were close (about 10 kilometers in a straight line). She went missing while on her way home from a relative's house. About three years earlier, a young woman in the area had been approached by someone trying to get her into a truck. Near the mouth of the Kurobe River, which flows through the area, a water scooter believed to have been used by North Korean agents for illegal entry into Japan in 2001 was discovered, indicating that the area was a hotspot for espionage activities.
2-6 Mr. Shin-ichi Mizushima (Born on 24 April 1949 / High school student)
On 9 February 1968, a person went missing in Asahi Town, Toyama Prefecture. The timing and location are similar to Shinobu Yagi (2-5). During this period, there were frequent disappearances of high school students and other young men and women nationwide. In particular, Hiroshi Saito (listed in <AL PRK 1/2025>) and Yutaka Imai (2-8) share several commonalities, including the “disappearance period,” “being a third-year high school student about to graduate,” and “already having secured employment.”
2-7 Mr. Yutaka Imai (Born on 20 December 1950 / High school student)
On 2 March 1969, he left his home in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, and never returned. He was scheduled to graduate from high school two days later. He had secured a job at a railway company in Tokyo and was also planning to enroll at Waseda University. Fifty years after his disappearance, a map believed to indicate the landing site of agents was discovered among his personal belongings, leading to speculation that he may have been lured there for some reason.
2-8 Mr. Hajime Shichijo (Born on 22 August 1948 / University student)
Disappeared on 10 February 1970 in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture. He was attending university in Tokyo but went missing while traveling along the Sea of Japan coast on his way back to his parents' home in Tokushima Prefecture after leaving a hotel in Kanazawa City. He was once reported in a magazine as possibly being the husband of Megumi Yokota (although the article itself was likely incorrect). In addition to this, we have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-9 Ms. Kumiko Kato (Born on 1 January 1948 / Company employee)
Disappeared on 8 August 1970 in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture.
Former NK agent and defector An Myeong-jin stated that he is convinced that she was the woman who was with Ms. Megumi Yokota inside Kim Jong Il Political-Military University in 1988, 1989, and 1990.
2-10 Mr. Hajime Sonoda (Born on 25 February 1918 / Poultry farm manager),
2-11 Ms. Toshiko Sonoda (Born on 7 September 1929 / Housewife)
Disappeared on 30 December 1971 after leaving their home in Osaki-cho, Kagoshima Prefecture.
A defector reported that his family saw a Japanese woman who looked very similar to Toshiko. In addition, a press person obtained a photo taken in North Korea in 2013 that resembles her. According to the 12 December 2017 issue of weekly magazine “Flash”, "She was taken to Cheongjin Port and received ideological education, married an agent and had two boys. He lived in a tenement-style house on the riverfront. Also, according to the 24 June 2019 issue of "Nikkan Gendai," a North Korean defector K gave his testimony, saying, "she identified herself as Lee Sun-ok based on information from around 2006, and said she had been living in a tenement-style house in Hamgyeongbukdo Province in the northeast. He has been living in the laborers' area in Sebyeol-gun, Hamgyeongbukdo in the northeast since the 1980s".
2-12 Ms. Fumiko Toyama (Born on 2 May 1952 / Company employee but quit his job before she disappeared.)
Disappeared on 1973 in Hakui City, Ishikawa Prefecture. According to defector Gwon Hyok, “I met her at the Chongjin Liaison Office in September 1993 and had dinner together”. He testified that she was about 157 cm tall, plump, and had an active personality.”
2-13 Ms. Noriko Furukawa (Born on 1 January 1955 / Company employee)
Disappeared on 7 July 1973 after leaving her home in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture.
Defector An Myeong-jin testified that in the fall of 1991, when he was hospitalized at 915 Hospital in Pyongyang, he encountered and conversed with someone who looked a lot like Noriko in the hospital's spacious grounds. An Myong-jin gave a witness statement in court at the Tokyo High Court on the occasion of an administrative lawsuit filed in 2005-7 seeking recognition of the abduction of Noriko as a representative of the specified disappeared persons.
2-14 Ms. Hideko Watanabe (Born on 5 June 1941 / Housewife)
Hideko Watanabe met Go Daegi, a Korean resident in Japan, in Omu Town (Hokkaido), where the Kamiya family lived, and married him, giving birth to two children (Go Gyeong-mi and Go Gang). Go Daegi was a North Korean operative, but Hideko was unaware of this. Hokkaido is the closest part of Japan to Russia and was a strategically important region for Japan's national defense during the Cold War. As a result, Soviet intelligence activities were active there, and North Korean agents are believed to have carried out subordinate operations under their direction. The family later moved to Saitama Prefecture. Go Daegi suddenly disappeared from the family in 1973 and returned to North Korea upon orders. Hideko went to “Universe Trading” in Tokyo to search for her husband. “Universe Trading” was listed as Go Daegi's employer, but it was actually a front company for North Korean intelligence agencies.
Fearing that their activities would be exposed, the company's agents abducted Hideko and her two children. While there are claims that Hideko was later killed, her body or any personal belongings have not been found, and there are reports that she may still be in North Korea. The two children are said to have been abducted from the coast of Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, in June 1974, and the police have concluded that the abduction was carried out by North Korea. (However, under Japanese law, abduction recognition by the government is limited to Japanese nationals, so the two children, who hold North Korean citizenship, have not been recognized as abductees).
Additionally, Go Daegi is said to have been involved in factional struggles after returning to North Korea and subsequently fell from power. In a report on “political prisoner detention center” in North Korea published by Amnesty International in June 1994, it was revealed that a person with the same name as Go Daegi was listed among 49 political prisoners held at the Seungho-li detention center outside Pyongyang in 1990. The notes section stated, “Former Korean resident in Japan,” and based on the age, it is highly likely to be the same person.

2-15 Mr. Kazuhiko Miura (Born on 28 March 1952 / Company employee)
2-16 Ms. Sachiko Hatano (Born on 14 February 1955 / Company employee)
The two were coworkers who disappeared after leaving their company in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Kazuhiko's car was later found on a coastline approximately 40 kilometers away.
Furthermore, disappearances involving multiple people—such as couples, married couples, or parents and children—were concentrated between the 1970s and early 1980s. Among the cases listed here alone, there are three such instances (there are also four such cases among government-recognized abduction victims).
- Sonoda couple (2-10, 2-11)
- Hideo Mineshima (2-19), Toshiko Sekiya (2-20), Tsuneko Toyama (2-21)
- Toshiyuki Adachi (2-32)
When Chairman of COMJAN Araki asked for information on Minoru Tanaka from a person he once met in Shenyang, China, he received testimony that Tanaka's wife resembled Sachiko (however, he only said she looked like her, and it is possible that she was someone else).
2-17 Mr. Takashi Osawa (Born on 21 June 1946 / Prefectural office employee)
On 24 February 1974, he went missing on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture. He had gone out on his day off and disappeared just before returning to his dormitory. At the time, the island was in the off-season for tourism and agricultural work, and a large-scale search was conducted, but no clues were found. The possibility of suicide, voluntary disappearance, or an accident is virtually nonexistent. Sado Island was a hub for espionage activities, including the abduction of Miyoshi Soga and Hitomi Soga (who returned to Japan in 2002) and the arrest of North Korean agents.
We have information that he would live in North Korea.
2-18 Mr. Kimimasa Kiyosaki (Born on 5 September 1932 / Construction company president)
On 14 June 1974, he went missing from his home in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture. Kim Hyong-hee, a North Korean agent arrested in connection with the 1987 Korean Air Flight 858 bombing, claimed in his book and interviews that there was a Japanese man who “often helped with carpentry work,” though this has not been confirmed, and there is a possibility that this man was Mr. Kiyosaki. Additionally, An Myong-jin claimed to have seen at the 915 Hospital in Pyongyang may also have been Kimimasa.
2-19 Mr. Hideo Mineshima (Born on 2 September 1952 / Company employees)
2-20 Toshiko Sekiya (Born on 19 May 1957 / company employees)
2-21 Tsuneko Toyama (Born on 22 June 1956 / company employees)
All three disappeared while leaving Chiba City in the car of Hideo, a relative of Toshiko on 11 July 1974. The car they were riding in has not been found either.
We have information that Toshiko and Tsuneko would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-22 Mr. Haruo Yamashita (Born on 25 May 1946 / Shipbuilding company employee)
On 17 August 1974, Haruo went fishing at a beach near the shipbuilding company where he worked in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, and disappeared. Yasushi Chimura and Fukie Chimura, who returned to Japan in 2002 as abduction victims, were also abducted in Obama City. Approximately two months before his disappearance, Go Gyong-mi and Go Gang were abducted from a beach about 7 km away in the same Obama City (See page 12).
2-23 Mr. Noriyuki Fuse (Born on 9 February 1954 / Freelance worker)
In March 1954, Noriyuki sent a letter to his sister saying he was going to visit a friend in Okinawa, and then disappeared. He had been living in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, but the university he had graduated from the previous year was Asia University in Tokyo, and he was originally from Yamagata Prefecture, which is in the opposite direction from Tokyo and 500 km away in a strait line. The owner of the apartment where he had been living was a North Korean national, and the police were keeping an eye on him. At the time, there were frequent disappearances along the Chuo Line where the university was located, some of which were suspected to be abductions, and it is speculated that he may have had contact with North Korean-linked individuals during his university days.
2-24 Mr. Akira Araki (Born on 16 October 1947 / Bank employee)
On 21 May 1977, he disappeared from his home in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture. Even before Kim Jong-il admitted to the abductions in 2002, this case was considered to have the potential for abduction. Kawaguchi City, which once had a large population of Koreans residing there, is believed to have been used by North Korea to conduct covert operations through the Korean community. In addition to Akira, there are many other missing persons in Kawaguchi city who have been suspected of being abducted.
2-25 Mr. Masateru Maegami (Born on 16 July 1957 / Freelance worker)
On 22 October 1977, he disappeared after leaving his luggage at Asahikawa Station in Hokkaido. He had left his home in Kyoto Prefecture in April of the same year and was working in Hokkaido. In Asahikawa, a high school student went missing in the city in 1983. Additionally, on the previous day, on 21 October, Ms. Kyoko Matsumoto was abducted (government-recognized) in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture. On 14 November, Mizuko (2−26) went missing in the same Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, and on the following day, 15 November, Ms. Megumi Yokota was abducted (government-recognized) in Niigata. During this period, abductions by North Korea are believed to have occurred frequently.
2-26 Ms. Mizuko Furuichi (Born on 8 April 1930 / Dancer and singer)
Disappeared on 14 November 1977 in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, aged 47 at the time, living in Kaike Onsen Hot Springs.
Witness testimony of Kim Song-ae, a former dancer in the North Korean troupe "Blood Sea Opera" who defected to South Korea with her husband said that she looks very much like my mother-in-law's best friend, who sang and danced at my wedding in 1990 at foreign currency restaurant in Cheongjin (the melody Kim Song-ae sang was Japanese song "Michizure (companion)" by Mieko Makimura, Japanese famous singer). The dance was said to be a traditional Japanese dance, and she was very good at it. I remember that she gave me a "SEIKO" watch as a congratulatory gift at that time....(omitted)... I was about 60 years old when we met....(omitted)... The last time we met was around February 2002. I was living in front of my mother-in-law's house at that time."
(Friday, 23 January 2004 issue)

2-27 Mr. Tatsumitsu Kaneda (Born on 16 December 1952 / Restaurant worker)
Disappeared in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture in 1979.
Raised in the same orphanage as government-approved abductee Minoru Tanaka, he worked at Kobe's "Raidai" ramen restaurant, where he introduced Minoru Tanaka to work with him. After Tanaka left Japan for Vienna, he felt like going to Vienna at Tanaka's invitation and headed to Tokyo for a meeting, but was not able to contact him at all. After the Japan North Korea Stockholm Agreement in 2014, the North Korean side told the Japanese government that he was in North Korea and had a wife and child there.
2-28 Ms. Satsuko Terashima (Born on 26 July 1935 / Bank employee)
On 10 August 1979, she disappeared just before returning home to her residence in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. A large-scale search was conducted by the police, and although her handbag was found, she was not located. Her home was located near a U.S. military communications facility in Japan, and there have been reports of North Korean espionage activities and possible abductions near other U.S. military facilities in various locations.
2-29 Mr. Kenji Yamada (Born on 22 January 1949 / Company employee)
18 December 1979 Disappeared after leaving his home in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture. Kenji's car was later found near Ecchu-kokubu Station, a location where North Korean agents were arrested two years after his disappearance and where covert operations were actively conducted.
Similar to the man seen by An Myong jin (but slightly different in height).
2-30 Mr. Toshihito Kokubo (Born on 1 August 1947 / Chief Engineer of a Cargo Ship)
Disappeared on 13 January 1980 in Maizuru city, Kyoto prefecture. After unloading cargo at Maizuru Port, he went out for a meal and has since gone missing.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-31 Ms. Naoko Nagao (Born on 25 October 1960 / Company employee)
Disappeared March 16 1981 from her home in Sapporo city, Hokkaido. she disappeared while walking to work, located just a short distance from her home.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-32 Mr. Toshiyuki Adachi (Born on 16 January 1963 / Hotel staff)
Disappeared with a female colleague from their home in Hakusan City, Ishikawa prefecture on 20 June 1981.
Most cases of multiple people disappearing at once occurred in the 1970s, but only Toshiyuki and his colleague's case happened in the 1980s.
2-33 Mr. Yoichi Tsuji (Born on 6 February 1949 / High school teacher)
On 5 December 1981, he disappeared from his lodgings in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture. A suspicious man was seen in the vicinity. There were books related to Korea in his room, and it is believed that he was interested in Korean issues based on his belongings. Yoichi is believed to have been targeted by agents because of his interest in the Korean Peninsula.
2-34 Mr. Shigeyuki Matsumoto (Born on 25 July 1935 / Fisherman)
Disappeared on 17 October 1983, while fishing in coastal waters near Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-35 Ms. Michie Kawai (Born on 18 December 1963 / Company employee)
On 2 April 1984, she left her home in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, to go to work and never returned. Fukui Prefecture has seen a number of abductions and disappearances with possible abduction motives throughout its coastal areas.
Additionally, during this period (mid-1980s), young women were disappearing nationwide. For example: Junko Imazu (2-36), Kanako Hayashi (2-37), Miwa Akita (2-38), Mikoto Onoue (2-40), Miho Yamamoto <AL-PRK>
2-36 Ms. Junko Imazu (Born on 28 May 1957 / Nursery school teacher)
On 30 April 1985, she disappeared on her way home to a dormitory in Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture. The next morning, her shoes were found in a nearby field.
We have information that she would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.

2-37 Ms. Kanako Hayashi (Born on 7 September 1960 / Company employee)
Disappeared on 22 November 1985 after leaving her home in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.
We have information that she would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-38 Ms. Miwa Akita (Born on 25 January 1964 / University Student)
She disappeared after leaving university campus in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture on 4 December 1985. Next morning, her handbag was found on a coastline over 100 kilometers away on the Japan Sea side. There are many similarities with the case of Miho Yamamoto <AL PRK 1/2025>, who went missing the previous year, including leaving personal belongings at the coast. This suggests a high likelihood that the disappearance was staged to appear like a suicide.
2-39 Mr. Yoshiyuki Nishiyasu (Born on 27 June 1965 / Freelancer)
On 15 March 1987, he left his home in Tanba City, Hyogo Prefecture, to go on a drive with a friend. After parting ways with his friend in Kyoto Prefecture, he went missing. His personal vehicle has not been found. A person believed to be Yoshiyuki appears in photographs taken in North Korea.
2-40 Ms. Mikono Onoue (Born on 26 November 1966 / Restaurant worker)
Disappeared in the downtown area of Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture on 6 June 1987. The car she was driving was found submerged in the sea at a port in Fukuoka City, 600 kilometers away, but neither her body nor any personal belongings were found. Mikono had just obtained her driver's license and was not capable of long-distance driving.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.

2-41 Mr. Yukio Hayashida (Born on 2 December 1934 / Company president)

2-42 Mr. Akira Mizui (Born on 12 March 1936 / Company president)
Yukio and Akira were friends who set out fishing by boat from the mouth of the Oyodo River in Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture to Hyuganada Strait, on 17 June 1987, and never returned. The sea was completely calm at the time, making an accident unlikely. Despite extensive searches conducted both at sea and from the air, the boat has never been found.
In Miyazaki Prefecture, the Hyuga Incident occurred in July 1981, in which North Korean agents were arrested, and in April 1985, a spy ship was discovered in the Hyuganada Strait. The region has been a hotspot for active North Korean intelligence activities especially from the 1970s to the 1980s.
2-43 Mr. Koji Wada (Born on 20 May 1957 / Fisherman)
Disappeared on 19 August 1988 in Nango-cho, Miyazaki Prefecture.
Defector Ha Il testified as follows.
“I’m not sure, but there was someone who looked a lot like him, and this was sometime between 1993 and 1996. He was a tall man. He worked as an air-conditioner technician, in a group of about 80 people. He was the head of that group. He also joined the Labor Party. Around 1997, he suddenly disappeared. The reason may have been that he had been accused of career fraud. People around him said he was a Korean resident in Japan. He was working on the construction of the Yanggakdo Island Hotel. I was in charge of managing about 1,200 people in that construction. I once heard someone say, "There is a Japanese man among them. He was an excellent engineer, and he was also the head of the electrical work team."
2-44 Mr. Mitsugu Yamashita (Born on 5 July 1950 / Worker)
On 27 December 1989, Mitsugu left his home in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture, by car to go fishing and has been missing ever since. The car was found approximately 40 kilometers away at a parking lot along the national highway in Echizen Town. Fishing gear was found near the coast, but there were many unusual aspects, leading authorities to suspect that the incident was staged to resemble an accident during fishing. The parking lot is the same as where Hiroshi Tanaka (2-58) was found, and it is also close to where Masatoshi Hayashi (2-60)'s car was parked. (There are two additional cases of disappearances in Fukui Prefecture where private vehicles were left behind at similar coastal locations, but these details are not publicly disclosed.)
2-45 Ms. Kimie Kawada (Born on 15 August 1966 / Company employee)
On 3 February 1990, Kimie disappeared after leaving her workplace in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. About two weeks later, her car was found in a parking lot along a national highway 100 kilometers away on the Sea of Japan side. The presence of a third party is strongly suspected based on items left in the car.
In the early 1990s, there were a series of disappearances of young women similar to those in the mid-1980s.
Keiko Shimizu (2-46), Yumi Omasa (2-47), Etsuko Sasaki (2-48), Kiyoko Morimoto (2-50), Chiaki Fukuyama (2-51), Emiko Matsuhashi (2-53)
It is speculated that the abductions may have been for the purpose of forcing the victims to marry the men who abducted them.
In particular, Kimie Kawada and Keiko Shimizu (2-46) and Emiko Matsuhashi (2-53) left their cars behind, and there are many similarities between them, such as the fact that the cars were left in places where it seems unlikely that they would have done so of their own accord.
2-46 Ms. Keiko Shimizu (Born on 9 December 1968 / Clerical worker)
On 13 December 1990, Keiko left her workplace in Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture, and disappeared while driving home. Her car was found in a location unrelated to her home.
2-47 Ms. Yumi Omasa (Born on 5 April 1967 / University research student)
Disappeared on 28 March 1991 in Gyeongju, South Korea.
We have information that she was abducted in South Korea, though not confirmed.
2-48 Ms. Etsuko Sasaki (Born on 6 December 1963 / Bank employee)
Disappeared after leaving her home in Urawa City, Saitama Prefecture on 22 April 1991. Defector Gwon Hyok reportedly “met her at the communications station of Unit 5454 around June 1994,” “The female abductees in Unit 5454 were also collectively called the 'Mokranwha group,'” “Four women including Ms. Sasaki (one of them a Korean) were working as one team in front of a TV monitor at the communications station, checking the monitor. I observed them at a close distance of about 5 meters. Another defector testified that she looked much like a Japanese female instructor who taught Japanese customs around 1995.”
2-49 Mr. Masato Onodera (Born on 15 February 1967 / Hotel staff)
On 19 June 1991, he rented a car and disappeared after leaving his home in Noboribetsu City, Hokkaido, en route to Furano City. The car was later found in a parking lot at a mountain trailhead. However, the circumstances in which it was left suggest he did not drive it there himself; it is believed he staged the scene to make it appear he had gone into the mountains.
2-50 Ms. Kiyoko Morimoto (Born on 25 November 1972 / Company employee)
On 22 September 1991, she left her home in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, stating she was "going to a bookstore in Osaka City," and disappeared. Kiyoko's disappearance occurred one month after the disappearance of Chiaki Fukuyama (2-52), sharing similarities in age, location, and circumstances.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-51 Mr. Kunihiko Tachibana (Born on 3 September 1972 / Vocational school student)
Disappeared after leaving his home in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture on 15 October 1991.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-52 Ms. Chiaki Fukuyama (Born on 16 September 1973 / High school student)
On 3 November 1991, she disappeared after parting ways with a friend on the subway while returning home to Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, following her part-time job.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-53 Ms. Emiko Matsuhashi (Born on 15 May 1965 / Company employee)
On 15 January 1992, she left her home in Kitaakita City, Akita Prefecture, and drove toward her grandmother's house, but disappeared. Her car was later found on the coast of Noshiro City, heading in the completely opposite direction.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-54 Ms. Kyoko Takeyama (Born on 20 December 1935 / Company employee)
Disappeared on 12 June 1992, she left her home in Hamamasu Village, Hokkaido.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-55 Mr. Masamichi Tanaka (Born on 28 June 1948 / Construction worker)
Disappeared in Chiba Prefecture on 7 June 1993. Later, a car was found parked on a road in Narashino City.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-56 Ms. Hisako Tomikawa (Born on 18 February 1958 / Housewife)
On 14 February 1994, she left her home in Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture, entrusted her child to a friend, and went shopping, never to return. Her car was found twenty kilometers away on the opposite coast of the island.
2-57 Mr. Masaki Matsunaga (Born on 14 January 1965 / Freelancer)
In the early hours of 28 August 1995, he left a note saying, “I'm going to Fukui for work,” at his home in Zentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture, and left by car, never to be seen again. On 14 September, a letter from him arrived at his home, addressed to himself, containing his car keys. The car was found in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, more than 1,000 kilometers away in a straight line, in December.
2-58 Mr. Hiroshi Tanaka (Born on 11 June 1960 / Company employee)
On 5 April 1996, he left his home in Kyoto City and drove to his workplace in the city, but never arrived. Several days later, his car was found at a parking lot along National Route 305 in Fukui Prefecture, approximately 120 kilometers away. The parking lot was the same as where the car of Mitsugu Yamashita (2-44) was found, and it was also near the location where the car of 2-60 Masatoshi Hayashi was parked.
2-59 Ms. Sayuri Kato (Born on 5 June 1964 / Housewife)
On 18 August 1997, she left her home in Kobe City and has not been seen since.
Many abduction victims and suspected abduction cases are linked to Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, where Sayuri lived.
Example: Tatsumitsu Kaneda (2-27)・Miwa Akita (2-38)
We have information that Sayuri would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.
2-60 Mr. Masatoshi Hayashi (Born on 20 January 1975 / Graduate student)
Disappeared on 12 May 1998 from his home in Tarui Town, Gifu Prefecture. The private car he drove was found on the coast of neighboring Fukui Prefecture, and a computer inside the car contained a message that appeared to be a suicide note.
The COMJAN list shows a high number of disappearances among young men in technical fields around the year 2000.
We have information that he would live in North Korea, though not confirmed.

In all of the above cases, COMJAN conducts investigations at the location where the person went missing to confirm the situation.

There are many people who would like to see other missing persons listed as “Possibly abducted” included in the report. Of the missing persons whose names appeared in the <AL PRK 1/2025>, the following eight fall into the “Possibly abducted” category of the COMJAN.

Masaji Nakano, Fukumi Noda, Masanobu Tamura, Kimio Sakashita, Taichi Takahashi, Tsuguhiro Nakazato, Setsuko Nakatsuka, Mitsuo Hidaka

We plan to continue investigating these individuals under the designation of “Working Group List.”
Additionally, there are cases where the police have acknowledged abductions but have not yet been officially recognized as such under current Japanese law (Confirmed by the National Police Agency of Japan). These include the siblings Go Gyeong-mi and Go Gang, who were allegedly abducted within Japan in 1973 and taken to North Korea in 1974. Their mother is Hideko Watanabe, mentioned in the above 2-14, but their father, Go Daegi, was Korean and held Korean nationality, which is why their abduction has not been officially recognized.
Regarding other individuals suspected of abduction, we will notify the Working Group if additional information becomes available in the future. For now, we kindly request that the list with the above individuals added be submitted to Kim Jong-un. Additionally, during the September Working Group meeting, (14) Tamaji Takeshita, the sister of Ryko Furukawa and Secretary General of FAMP-DPRK, (39) Miho Yoshimi, the sister of Miwa Akita and also Vice President, Misa Morimoto, the sister of Miho Yamamoto listed in <AL PRK 1/2025> and an executive, and Kazuhiro Araki, the representative of COMJAN, are scheduled to participate. Additionally, Ms. Takeshita delivered a statement via video at the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women's NGO hearing on 14 October 2024.

We sincerely appreciate the earnest efforts of the working group.

Kazuhiro Araki, Chairman of Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea (COMJAN) / Professor, Institute of World Studies, Takushoku University
Hideki Imai, President of Family Association of the Missing Persons Probably Related to the DPRK (FAMP-DPRK) / Yutaka Imai (2-7)’s brother