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Relative of N. Korean abduction victim loses in lower house election

SENDAI, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto, whose elder sister Rumiko is among Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, speaks in Sendai, northeastern Japan, on the night of Dec. 14, 2014, after losing in the lower house election. Masumoto ran on the ticket of the small opposition Party for Future Generations.

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Masumoto speaks at meeting to raise abduction awareness

KANOYA, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto, whose elder sister Rumiko was abducted to North Korea in 1978, speaks at an event in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, on Nov. 20, 2014, to raise public awareness of the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea.

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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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Abductee's mother urges review of gov't stance at N. Korea talks

TOKYO, Japan - Sakie Yokota (2nd from R), the mother of Megumi Yokota who remains missing after being abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13, speaks in Tokyo on Oct. 16, 2014, at a meeting with a league of parliamentarians pressing for the abductees' safe return. Also pictured are Eriko Yamatani (R), state minister in charge of the abduction issue, and Teruaki Masumoto (2nd from L), secretary general of the Japanese Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea.

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Abductees' kin oppose N. Korea trip by Japanese officials

TOKYO, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto (L), secretary general of the Japanese Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, hands a petition to Eriko Yamatani, state minister in charge of the abduction issue, in Tokyo on Oct. 16, 2014, to convey the group's opposition to a proposed trip for Japanese government officials to visit North Korea on a fact-finding mission.

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Japanese abductee kin call for help at U.N. meet

GENEVA, Switzerland - Teruaki Masumoto (L), secretary general of a group of families of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea, calls for international cooperation to prevent such crimes during a symposium at the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva on Sept, 10, 2014. Tamaji Takeshita, a sister of suspected abductee Noriko Furukawa, holds a picture of Masumoto's abducted sister Rumiko.

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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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Meeting on alleged abduction of Japanese by N. Korea

OMU, Japan - Yuko Kitakoshi (R), whose father and three brothers may have been abducted by North Korean agents in the 1960s, and Teruaki Masumoto (2nd from L), secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, are among participants in a meeting held in the town of Omu, Hokkaido, on June 4, 2014, by the Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to N. Korea.

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Kubota chief Masumoto found dead

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken in 2012 shows Yasuo Masumoto, chairman and president of Kubota Corp., Japan's leading manufacturer of farm equipment. On June 4, 2014, Masumoto was found dead at a hotel in Tokyo. He was 67. Police are investigating the cause of his death. Vice President Masatoshi Kimata will take over as acting president, Kubota said.

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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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Kin of Japanese abductee urges solution to abduction issue

NEW YORK, U.S. - Teruaki Masumoto (F), secretary general of the Tokyo-based Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, appeals at a U.N. Headquarters meeting in New York on April 16, 2014, for an early solution to the abduction cases. Masumoto's elder sister is one of the victims.

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Kin of Japanese citizens abducted by N. Korea

WASHINGTON, United States - Teruaki Masumoto, secretary general 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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Experts' meeting on N. Korean abduction issue

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front) speaks at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on April 3, 2013, during a meeting with a group of experts on the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals. To the left is Teruaki Masumoto, secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea.

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Kin of N. Korean abduction victim testifies at EU rights panel

BRUSSELS, Switzerland - Teruaki Masumoto (L, facing) attends a European Union panel in Brussels on May 29, 2012. Masumoto, a representative of an organization comprising family members of Japanese abducted by North Korea, testified and asked for European help in resolving the issue.

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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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2 abductees reported alive in N. Korea

TOKYO, Japan - Combination file photo shows Shuichi Ichikawa (L) and Rumiko Masumoto, who were abducted by North Korea. Ichikawa's brother Kenichi said Jan. 27, 2011, he obtained information that the two were alive in the country as of 2006, despite Pyongyang's claim that they have already died.

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Kubota president in interview

OSAKA, Japan - Yasuo Masumoto, president of agricultural machinery builder Kubota Corp., speaks during an interview with Kyodo News at the company's headquarters in Osaka on Jan. 14, 2011. He said Kubota will seek to double group sales to 2 trillion yen in five years from some 930 billion yen in fiscal 2009.

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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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Abductee's kin attends U.N. meeting in Geneva

GENEVA, Switzerland - Teruaki Masumoto, secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, speaks to reporters at the U.N. Office at Geneva on Dec. 7, 2009. Masumoto, who sat in on a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting there to review the rights situation in North Korea, expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress on the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals, including his sister.

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Documentary film featuring abducted Megumi screened in Bangkok

BANGKOK, Thailand - A documentary film featuring Megumi Yokota (on screen), who was abducted to North Korea at the age of 13, was shown in Bangkok on Aug. 2. About 160 people, including Teruaki Masumoto from Japan, secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by N. Korea, and Thai students, watched the film.

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Wen tours Kyoto - Luncheon at Kyoto government guesthouse

KYOTO, Japan - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, joined by Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada (R) and Kyoto Mayor Yorikane Masumoto (L), views a pond at the Kyoto government guesthouse after attending a luncheon there. Wen, the first Chinese leader to visit Japan in six and a half years, was on a day trip to Kyoto and Osaka on the last day of a three-day ''ice-melting'' visit to Japan.

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Relative of Japanese abductee calls Romanian visit 'fruitful'

NARITA, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto (L), secretary general of a group of relatives of Japanese abductees, and Tsutomu Nishioka, deputy representative of a group supporting the abductees' families, speak to reporters at Narita airport about their trip to Romania to see the family of a suspected Romanian abductee to North Korea. They met with relatives of Doina Bumbea in southern Romania last week. She went missing in Italy in 1978 and is believed to have been taken to North Korea.

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Kin of victims of N. Korea abduction 'satisfied' with N.Y. visit

NEW YORK, United States - Teruaki Masumoto (R) and Shigeo Iizuka, both family members of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, meet the press in New York on Nov. 3 after winding up their weeklong stay there. They expressed ''satisfaction'' with the outcome of their efforts to obtain cooperation from the United Nations on the rescue of abduction victims.

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Japanese kin of abductee seeks China help on N. Korea kidnappings

BEIJING, China - Teruaki Masumoto (2nd from L), whose sister Rumiko was abducted by North Korea, and other members of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea, hold a press conference in Beijing on Aug. 29. They urged China to make an effort to solve the cases, saying some victims are Chinese citizens.

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Japanese, S. Korean abductees' kin seek U.S. citizens' help

WASHINGTON, United States - The kin and supporters of both Japanese and South Korean citizens abducted by North Korea call for help at a rally outside the White House on April 22. ''Citizens of the United States, please join forces with our struggle,'' said Kenichi Ichikawa, elder brother of Shuichi Ichikawa, who vanished from a Kagoshima Prefecture beach in 1978 at age 23 along with his girlfriend Rumiko Masumoto, then 24.

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Abductees' kin rap N. Korea over abduction

TOKYO, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto (2nd from L), secretary general of a group of abductees' kin, tells passers-by in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on April 11 that Japan should take a tough stance against North Korea, as a high-ranking North Korean official currently visiting Japan has not offered even one word of apology for the abductions.

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Kin express joy after film on abductee wins prize

TOKYO, Japan - The relatives of victims of North Korea's abductions expressed their delight in Tokyo on Jan. 30 after ''Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story,'' a U.S. documentary film on the abduction of the Japanese woman, won the best documentary award at the U.S. Slamdance Film Festival in Utah on Jan. 27. Sakie Yokota (R), Megumi's mother, and Teruaki Masumoto (L), whose sister Rumiko was abducted in 1978 at age 24, meet the press showing photos at the festival.

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Hyde eyes U.S. Congress resolution on N. Korea's abduction issue

WASHINGTON, United States - Teruaki Masumoto (L), secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, shakes hands with Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican who is chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee, at the U.S. Congress in Washington on April 26.

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Masumoto heading for loss in upper house election

TOKYO, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto, brother of a woman abducted to North Korea in 1978, bites his lip at his election campaign office in Tokyo on July 11 after it became certain he would fail in his bid for election to the House of Councillors.

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(12)Campaigning for upper house election starts

TOKYO, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto, whose sister was abducted by North Korea in 1978, shakes hands with a voter in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on June 24 as campaigning for the July 11 House of Councillors election began. He is running as an independent in the Tokyo constituency.

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Abductee's brother to run for upper house election

TOKYO, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto, whose sister was abducted by North Korea in 1978, said in Tokyo on June 4 he will run as an independent representing the Tokyo constituency in July's House of Councillors election.

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Soga pays respects to Masumoto

AIRA, Japan - Hitomi Soga prays in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Nov. 28 for Shoichi Masumoto, who died in October while waiting for the return of his daughter Rumiko Masumoto. North Korea said Rumiko and seven other Japanese nationals it abducted died in the country. (Pool photo)

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Abductees' relatives seek economic sanctions against N. Korea

FUKUOKA, Japan - Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, including Rumiko Masumoto and Kaoru Matsuki, and their supporters take to the streets in Fukuoka on Aug. 3, demanding the Japanese government impose economic sanctions on N. Korea.

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Abductees' relatives thank Baker for assistance on U.S. trip

TOKYO, Japan - The relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea visited U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker (C, front) on March 14 to thank him for helping make their recent visit to the United States successful. The relatives are Shigeru Yokota (L, front) and his wife Sakie (R, front) and Teruaki Masumoto (L, back).

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(3)Abductees' kin meet White House, Pentagon officials

WASHINGTON, United States - Relatives of three Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea -- (from R to L) Toru Hasuike, Shigeru Yokota, Yokota's wife Sakie and Teruaki Masumoto -- attend a news conference at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on March 6. They spoke about the results of their five-day visit to the U.S. to seek support from the government and Congress members in solving the abduction issue.

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Abductees' kin urge U.S. for support on N. Korea sanctions

WASHINGTON, United States - Shigeru Yokota (R), who heads a group of Japanese families with relatives who were abducted to North Korea, shakes hands with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Washington on March 5. Yokota urged the U.S. government to support economic sanctions by the U.N. Security Council against N. Korea. Yokota is accompanied by (from R to L) his wife Sakie, Toru Hasuike and Teruaki Masumoto.

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Japanese abductees' kin meet Senate Republican leaders

WASHINGTON, United States - Relatives of three Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea in the late 1970s meet Republican Richard Lugar (R), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in Washington on March 4 as part of their efforts to seek support from the international community. The Japanese are Teruaki Masumoto (L), Toru Hasuike (2nd from L), Sakie Yokota (3 from L) and her husband Shigeru.

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Abductees' families leave for U.S. to seek help

NARITA, Japan - Three of a group of relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea -- Shigeru Yokota (R), his wife Sakie (2nd from R), Teruaki Masumoto (3rd from R) and Toru Hasuike -- head for a plane at Narita airport March 3 to leave for the United States. The will stay in Washington until March 7 seeking help from U.S. government officials.

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Abductees' kin to go to Washington next week to seek help

TOKYO, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto (R), whose sister Rumiko was abducted by North Korea in 1978, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Feb. 28. Masumoto will make a five-day visit to Washington on March 3 with three other relatives of abductees to ask the U.S. government for help in resolving the abduction issue.

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Families of abductees to visit U.S. next week

TOKYO, Japan - (From R to L) Teruaki Masumoto, Shigeru Yokota and his wife Sakie announce in Tokyo on Feb. 27 that they plan to visit the United States next week to seek help from the U.S. government and the American people in settling the abduction issue. The Yokotas' daughter Megumi was abducted in 1977 at age 13 and is said to have died in North Korea and Masumoto's sister Rumiko was abducted in 1978 when she was 24 and reported as dead by N. Korea.

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Kyoto city awards medal of honor to Nobel laureate Tanaka

KYOTO, Japan - Kyoto Mayor Yorikane Masumoto (R) awards a citizen's medal of honor to Koichi Tanaka (L), the co-winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at the Kyoto municipal office on Jan. 20. Tanaka, 43, is a fellow at Kyoto-based precision equipment maker Shimadzu Corp. and has lived in the city for nearly 20 years.

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Abductee's brother against normalizing Japan-N. Korea ties

FUKUOKA, Japan - Teruaki Masumoto, brother of one of the Japanese nationals North Korea abducted and now says is dead, speaks in Fukuoka on Dec. 5. ''Is it acceptable for Japan to normalize diplomatic ties with a country like North Korea that is under the regime of Kim Jong Il?'' Masumoto asked in an address at Kyushu University.

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Wake held for father of Japanese abducted to N. Korea

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - A wake is held in Kagoshima Prefecture on Oct. 18 for Shoichi Masumoto, the father of Rumiko Masumoto, one of eight Japanese nationals who North Korea said have died after they were abducted to the country. The father, who was hospitalized in late August, died the previous day at age 79.

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Kin of missing Japanese meet 5 abductees

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeo Iizuka (L) and Teruaki Masumoto (R) respond to questions from reporters Oct. 16 at a Tokyo hotel after meeting with the five Japanese abducted to North Korea and now in Japan for a temporary visit. Iizuka's sister Yaeko Taguchi and Masumoto's sister Rumiko Masumoto were abducted to N. Korea in 1978 and listed as among the dead abductees by Pyongyang.

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(1)North Korea confirms eight persons dead

TOKYO, Japan - File photos show three persons who were taken to North Korea and were confirmed dead by North Korea on Sept. 17. (From L to R) Megumi Yokoya, Rumiko Masumoto and Shuichi Ichikawa.

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Kin of 'abducted' Japanese urge progress on issue at summit

TOKYO, Japan - Families of Japanese believed to have been abducted by North Korea make an appeal Sept. 11 for progress in the long-standing bilateral issue during summit talks Sept. 17 between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The appeal came from Shigeru Yokota (2nd from L) and Teruaki Masumoto (R) during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo.

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U.N. urged to probe missing Japanese, S. Koreans

GENEVA, Switzerland - Teruaki Masumoto (L) and Choi U Yong, relatives of Japanese and South Korean nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents, head for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on April 9 to ask for assistance in locating and returning the missing persons. Masumoto and Choi presented the U.N. human rights office with reports documenting the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of their relatives.

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Hyde eyes U.S. Congress resolution on N. Korea's abduction issue

WASHINGTON, United States - Teruaki Masumoto (L), secretary general of the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, shakes hands with Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican who is chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee, at the U.S. Congress in Washington on April 26. (Kyodo)

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Wen tours Kyoto - Luncheon at Kyoto government guesthouse

KYOTO, Japan - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, joined by Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada (R) and Kyoto Mayor Yorikane Masumoto (L), views a pond at the Kyoto government guesthouse after attending a luncheon there. Wen, the first Chinese leader to visit Japan in six and a half years, was on a day trip to Kyoto and Osaka on the last day of a three-day ''ice-melting'' visit to Japan. (Kyodo)