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Abductees' relatives in Washington

Takuya Yokota (L), head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, and group member Koichiro Iizuka hold a press conference in Washington on May 4, 2023, after meeting with U.S. government officials to secure their cooperation in resolving the decades-old issue. Yokota is a younger brother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea in 1977 aged 13, while Iizuka's mother Yaeko Taguchi was taken to North Korea in 1978.

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Sumo: Roga

Russian-born sumo wrestler Roga (R) is pictured next to his stablemaster at his Futagoyama stable in the southwestern Japan city of Iizuka on Oct. 30, 2023, the day the banzuke for the upcoming Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament was issued. Roga is one of four wrestlers making their debut in the highest makuuchi division in the Nov. 12-26 meet.

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Athletics: World championships

Shota Iizuka (R) of Japan reacts after finishing seventh in a men's 200 meters semifinal heat at the world athletics championships in Budapest on Aug. 24, 2023.

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Athletics: World championships

Shota Iizuka (R) of Japan competes in a men's 200 meters semifinal heat at the world athletics championships in Budapest on Aug. 24, 2023.

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Heavy rain in Fukuoka

Photo taken on July 10, 2023, shows the Honami river in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, swollen after heavy rain.

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Heavy rain in Fukuoka

Photo taken on July 10, 2023, shows the Honami river in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, swollen after heavy rain.

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Golf: Keita Nakajima

Keita Nakajima of Japan plays his second shot on the second playoff hole during the final-round day of a Japan Golf Tour event at Aso Iizuka Golf Club in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

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Golf: Keita Nakajima

Keita Nakajima of Japan holds up the trophy after winning a Japan Golf Tour event at Aso Iizuka Golf Club in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on June 11, 2023.

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Fujii wins Game 4 of shogi Meijin series

Shogi prodigy Sota Fujii reviews his match against defending champion Akira Watanabe after winning Game 4 of a best-of-seven series for the Meijin title at a traditional Japanese house in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 22, 2023. Fujii, 20, holder of six shogi titles, is one win short of claiming the series, which would make him the youngest holder of the prestigious Meijin title dating back to the early 1600s.

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Fujii wins Game 4 of shogi Meijin series

Shogi prodigy Sota Fujii (L) reviews his match against defending champion Akira Watanabe after winning Game 4 of a best-of-seven series for the Meijin title at a traditional Japanese house in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 22, 2023. Fujii, 20, holder of six shogi titles, is one win short of claiming the series, which would make him the youngest holder of the prestigious Meijin title dating back to the early 1600s.

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Fujii wins Game 4 of shogi Meijin series

Shogi prodigy Sota Fujii reviews his match against defending champion Akira Watanabe after winning Game 4 of a best-of-seven series for the Meijin title at a traditional Japanese house in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 22, 2023. Fujii, 20, holder of six shogi titles, is one win short of claiming the series, which would make him the youngest holder of the prestigious Meijin title dating back to the early 1600s.

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Abductees' relatives in Washington

Takuya Yokota (L), head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, and group member Koichiro Iizuka hold a press conference in Washington on May 4, 2023, after meeting with U.S. government officials to secure their cooperation in resolving the decades-old issue. Yokota is a younger brother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea in 1977 aged 13, while Iizuka's mother Yaeko Taguchi was taken to North Korea in 1978.

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N. Korea abductees' kin

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, whose sister Yaeko Taguchi was abducted in 1978 aged 22, speaks at a special gathering of the family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and their supporters, in Tokyo on June 22, 2014. The relatives called for priority to be placed on the return of survivors waiting for rescue, after North Korea agreed with Japan in May to reinvestigate the fate of the abductees.

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Sanctions still insufficient, says leader of abductee kin group

SAITAMA, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, the leader of a group of relatives of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea, speaks to reporters at his work site in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, on April 10. He said the Japanese government's additional sanctions on N. Korea in response to the April 5 rocket launch are still insufficient.

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Olympics: Japan relay quartet gets silver medals

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Aug. 21 Kyodo - (From L) Ryota Yamagata, Shota Iizuka, Yoshihide Kiryu and Asuka Cambridge of Japan pose with their silver medals during the award ceremony for the men's 4x100-meter relay at the athletics competitions of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Aug. 20, 2016.

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Japanese man talks about surviving bombing on Angaur during WWII

TOKYO, April 8 Kyodo - Kannosuke Hayashi, 85, talks during an interview in March 2015 in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, about his experience of surviving a U.S. air raid on Palau's Angaur Island in March 1944 during World War II while he was mobilized for an airport construction project as a junior high school student. He shows a case containing a bomb fragment that had punctured his leg.

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Japan to send officials to N. Korea to check abduction probe

TOKYO, Japan - (From L) Sakie Yokota, Shigeo Iizuka and Teruaki Masumoto, whose family members were abducted by North Korea decades ago, meet the press at the Cabinet Office in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2014, after they were informed by the government of its decision to send officials soon to North Korea to check its investigation into the fates of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang.

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Japan win men's 4x400m relay at Asian Games

INCHEON, South Korea - (From L to R) Japan's Nobuya Kato, Shota Iizuka, Kenji Fujimitsu and Yuzo Kanemaru celebrate after winning the gold in the men's 4x400-meter relay at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, on Oct. 2, 2014.

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Kin of Japanese abductees listen to gov't briefing

TOKYO, Japan - Family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s attend a government briefing session on Pyongyang's reinvestigation into their fate in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014. Shigeo Iizuka (extreme R), who heads a group of abductee families, takes a note while Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie sitting next to him look on.

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1st edition of 'Anne of Green Gables' displayed at fair

FUKUOKA, Japan - The Iizuka municipal government in Fukuoka Prefecture exhibits the first published edition of "Anne of Green Gables," written by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery and seen in this undated file photo, at a fair under way from Sept. 18, 2014, in the southwestern Japan city in connection with Japanese public broadcaster NHK's "Hanako and Anne" television drama series depicting the life of Hanako Muraoka, a Japanese translator of the book.

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Leader of Japanese abductees' kin calls for early settlement

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group representing relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, calls for prompt settlement of the issue at a seminar held by the government in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, on Aug. 26, 2014.

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Abductees' relatives

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (front), who heads a group of family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents, answers reporters' questions after meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with other group members -- (from far L to R) Teruaki Masumoto, Sakie Yokota and Shigeru Yokota -- at the premier's office in Tokyo on July 4, 2014. Japan finalized the same day its decision to lift some of its unilateral sanctions on North Korea as Pyongyang launched a special committee to investigate the fate of Japanese nationals it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Head of group representing kin of N. Korea abductees speaks

SAITAM, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group representing family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, answers questions from reporters in Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on July 3, 2014.

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Meeting of lawmakers' league against abduction

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group of families of victims kidnapped by North Korea (3rd from R), and Shigeru Yokota (2nd from R) and Sakie Yokota (extreme R), parents of Megumi Yokota who was abducted by North Korea, attend a general meeting of the parliamentarian's league working to resolve the issue of abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea at the Diet in Tokyo on June 5, 2014.

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Abductee kin laments lack of progress in Japan-N. Korea talks

SAITAMA, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, who heads a group of family members of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents, laments on the lack of progress over the abduction issue as he speaks in Kasukabe, north of Tokyo, on May 28, 2014, after three days of negotiations between Japan and North Korea in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Kin of N. Korea's abduction victims call for early rescue

TOKYO, Japan - Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents call for their prompt rescue at a rally in Tokyo on April 27, 2014. On the stage are (from L) Teruaki Masumoto, Kayoko Arimoto, Sakie Yokota and her husband Shigeru, and Shigeo Iizuka.

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Abductee kin Iizuka attends event in Geneva

GENEVA, Switzerland - Shigeo Iizuka (L), representative of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, attends an event organized by an international human rights group in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 17, 2014.

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Abductee kin Iizuka meets press in Geneva

GENEVA, Switzerland - Shigeo Iizuka, representative of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, responds to questions from reporters in Geneva, Switzerland after attending a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 17, 2014.

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Brother of woman abducted to N. Korea

GENEVA, Switzerland - Shigeo Iizuka, the head of a group consisting of the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, speaks at a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 17, 2014. Iizuka's sister, Yaeko Taguchi, was abducted in 1978 at age 22.

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Kin of N. Korea abduction victims meet Japan's FM

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (L) hands a written statement to Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on March 4, 2014, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo on behalf of an international group seeking to resolve past abductions of Japanese and other foreign nationals by North Korea, including Iizuka's sister Yaeko Taguchi. (Pool photo)

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Abductees' kin call for more pressure on N. Korea

KASUKABE, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, representative of an association of the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and brother of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, answers reporters' questions on Feb. 18, 2014, regarding a just-released U.N. commission report on human rights violations in the reclusive communist country.

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Kin of Japanese citizens abducted by N. Korea

WASHINGTON, United States - Shigeo Iizuka, representative of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea and a brother of one of the abductees, speaks at a symposium in Washington on May 2, 2013. Family members of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea called for international cooperation to resolve the issue promptly in the symposium, the first of its kind hosted by the Japanese government in the United States.

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Signatures on abductions top 10 mil.

SAITAMA, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, chief of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, holds a document on the breakdown of signatures collected in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, at the prefectural hall in the city of Saitama. With these signatures, the number of signatures by citizens seeking a resolution to the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korean agents topped 10 million, the head of the abductees' families group said.

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Relatives of Japanese abductees express hopes for talks

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, head of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, answers reporters' questions in Tokyo on Nov. 21, 2012, after meeting with Shinsuke Sugiyama, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. Relatives of Japanese abductees expressed hope for the success of talks between the Japanese and North Korean governments, which were recently revived after a four-year lull, in the meeting with Sugiyama, the head of the Japanese delegation to the talks.

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Relatives of Japanese abductees head for Geneva

NARITA, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (front), head of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, is seen at Narita airport, near Tokyo, on Nov. 7, 2012, before his departure for Geneva to attend events aimed at raising public awareness of abduction issues. His younger sister Yaeko Taguchi was abducted in 1978 at the age of 22.

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Jamaica wins gold in men's 4x100 meter relay

LONDON, Britain - Jamaican team anchor Usain Bolt (far L) competes in the men's 4x100-meter relay final at the London 2012 Olympics at the Olympic Stadium in London on Aug. 11, 2012. At third from right is Japanese team anchor Shota Iizuka and at second from right is Japan's third runner Shinji Takahira.

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Abductees' kin meet with abduction minister Matsubara

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (C), chairman of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, and Teruaki Masumoto (R), secretary general of the association, meet with Jin Matsubara, minister in charge of the abduction issue, at the National Police Agency in Tokyo on Jan. 17, 2012. Matsubara vowed to make every effort to settle the long-standing issue.

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Envoys shown film on girl kidnapped by N. Korean agents

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (front R) speaks after the screening for ambassadors in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2011, of a documentary film of a Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1977. Left of Noda are (from R to L) Shigeru Yokota, father of the girl, Megumi, Shigeo Iizuka, head of a group of abductees' relatives, Megumi's mother, Sakie, and Cabinet minister for the abduction issue Kenji Yamaoka.

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Abductee's relative meets with ex-N. Korean spy Kim

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Koichiro Iizuka, son of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, gives a news conference in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on July 21, 2010, after meeting with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner. Iizuka said Kim gave him encouragement in a written message regarding the return of his mother.

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Abductee's relative meets with ex-N. Korean spy Kim

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Koichiro Iizuka, son of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, gives a news conference in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on July 21, 2010, after meeting with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner. Iizuka said Kim gave him encouragement in a written message regarding the return of his mother.

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Abductee's relative meets with ex-N. Korean spy Kim

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Koichiro Iizuka, son of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, holds a message written by Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner, after meeting with her on July 21, 2010, in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. Kim encouraged Iizuka in her message, writing that his mother will definitely return to Japan.

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Abductee's kin meet with ex-N. Korean jet bomber

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka, a brother of Japanese abductee Yaeko Taguchi, is seen in a car heading to a meeting in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner, on July 20, 2010.

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Abductee's kin meet with ex-N. Korean jet bomber

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Koichiro Iizuka, son of Japanese abductee Yaeko Taguchi, is seen in a car heading to a meeting in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to meet with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner, on July 20, 2010.

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Abductee's kin meet with ex-N. Korean jet bomber

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Koichiro Iizuka, son of Japanese abductee Yaeko Taguchi, arrives at Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to meet with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner, on July 20, 2010.

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Abductee's kin meet with ex-N. Korean jet bomber

KARUIZAWA, Japan - Koichiro Iizuka (C), son of Japanese abductee Yaeko Taguchi, and Shigeo Iizuka (back), her brother, are seen in a car heading to a meeting in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, with Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner, on July 20, 2010.

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Journalist's remarks on abductees inappropriate: BPO

TOKYO, Japan - (From R) Shigeru Yokota, Shigeo Iizuka and Teruaki Masumoto, relatives of Japanese people abducted by North Korea, attend a press conference in Tokyo on March 10, 2010, after the human rights panel of a television watchdog concluded that a journalist remarking on a TV program that those abducted by North Korea must already be dead was ''inappropriate as it lacks consideration.''

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Journalist's remarks on abductees inappropriate: BPO

TOKYO, Japan - (From R) Shigeru Yokota, Shigeo Iizuka and Teruaki Masumoto, relatives of Japanese abducted by North Korea, attend a press conference in Tokyo on March 10, 2010, after the human rights panel of a television watchdog concluded that a journalist remarking on a TV program that those abducted by North Korea must already be dead was ''inappropriate as it lacks consideration.''

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Kin of abductees impressed with Obama's Tokyo speech

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (C), who represents relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, flanked by Shigeru Yokota (R) and his wife Sakie, whose daughter Megumi was taken to North Korea in 1977 at age 13, speaks to reporters after U.S. President Barack Obama's speech at Suntory Hall in Tokyo on Nov. 14, 2009. Iizuka, the brother of abductee Yaeko Taguchi, and the Yokotas praised the president's speech as delivering a strong, clear message toward settling the issue.

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Hatoyama vows efforts to get back abduction victims

TOKYO, Japan - Sakie Yokota (R), the mother of Megumi Yokota who was abducted by North Korea, answers questions from reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at his office in Tokyo on Sept. 29, 2009. At left is Shigeo Iizuka, brother of kidnap victim Yaeko Taguchi and head of the group of relatives of abduction victims.

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PM Aso opens election office in his constituency in Fukuoka

FUKUOKA, Japan - Chikako Aso (R), the wife of Prime Minister Taro Aso, speaks to supporters of the prime minister on June 20 as he opened an office in his constituency in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, to prepare for a general election for the House of Representatives that must be held by fall.