Father of Japanese Hostage Reported Killed Still Hopeful

Shoichi Yukawa, father of Haruna Yukawa, one of two Japanese hostages held by the Islamic State group, speaks during an interview at his home in Chiba, near Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. Japanese officials are working to verifying a new message purported to be from the Islamic State group holding the hostages. The Associated Press could not verify the contents of the message, which varied greatly from previous videos released by the Islamic State group, which now holds a third of both Syria and Iraq. AP Photo/Asahi Shimbun, Yasuhiro Sugimoto, Pool

TOKYO—The father of the Japanese hostage purportedly shown in a video as having been killed by Islamic State militants is hoping against hope his son could still be alive.

“My mind went totally blank,” Shoichi Yukawa told reporters Sunday, a day after news broke of the video footage. “I am hoping deep in my heart that it is not true.”

Haruna Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer, was taken hostage in Syria last year.

Shoichi Yukawa, father of Haruna Yukawa, one of two Japanese hostages held by the Islamic State group, speaks during an interview at his house in Chiba, near Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. AP Photo/Asahi Shimbun, YasuhiroSugimoto, Pool

The Associated Press has not verified the contents of the video, which varied greatly from previous videos released by the Islamic State group. It holds a third of both Syria and Iraq. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the video was likely authentic and demanded the militants release the other hostage, reporter Kenji Goto, 47.

The Islamic State group had threatened to behead Yukawa and Goto unless it received a $200 million ransom.

“If I am ever reunited with him, I just want to give him a big hug,” Yukawa told Japanese TV stations. He requested his face not be shown.

He also apologized for the troubles his son had caused in Japan. Although Yukawa was kidnapped last year, he quickly faded from the Japanese media coverage, widely seen as going to a dangerous place at his own risk. However, the news he may have been killed amid a high stake diplomatic drama to save the two hostages has traumatized a nation accustomed to peaceful policies and relatively low crime.

FILE - Image taken from an online video released by the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, purports to show the group threatening to kill two Japanese hostages that the militants identify as Kenji Goto Jogo, left, and Haruna Yukawa, right, unless a $200 million ransom is paid within 72 hours. AP Photo

The younger Yukawa had written on his blog and social networks about what appeared to be a troubled past that took him to the Middle East to join fighting. He said he went after his wife died of an illness.

A photo on his Facebook page shows him holding a Kalashnikov rifle somewhere in the Middle East. He also said that earlier he had suffered so much from a sense of failure that he became suicidal and tried to mutilate his genitals.

In a video posted by Goto before he left Japan to try to rescue Yukawa, Goto pleaded that no matter what happens to him, the people of Syria should not be blamed because they have suffered enough.

A video image of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto filmed in October 2014 by a Syrian guide is shown on the guide's mobile phone screen during an interview with Kyodo News in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. AP Photo/Kyodo News, Masaya Kurosaki

The older Yukawa said he hoped Goto, who has devoted his life to interviewing ordinary people in the Middle East, would come home safely.

“I hope for that. And not a minute too soon,” he said.

From The Associated Press