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(3)5 ex-N. Korea abductees cast votes in election

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga cast her ballot in the House of Representatives election in Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 9. She is among five Japanese abducted by North Korea who returned to Japan last year. (Pool photo)

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Soga expresses anxiety after living year alone in Japan

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese North Korea abducted in 1978 who returned to Japan just a year ago, speaks to reporters in her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on Oct. 15.

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Soga worried about family in N. Korea

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese repatriated last October after being abducted to North Korea in 1978, speaks at the town hall in her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on April 14, six months since returning to Japan. She said she is worried about her family in North Korea. (Pool photo)

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Soga glad to get letter from family in N. Korea

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese abducted to North Korea in 1978 who returned to Japan in October last year, speaks to reporters in her hometown of Mano on Niigata Prefecture's Sadogashima Island on Jan. 17 about a letter from her family in North Korea. (Pool photo)

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Soga to attend workshop for nursing helper training

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese back in Japan after being abducted by North Korea in 1978, visits the Mano town hall on Sadogashima Island on Jan. 7 for consultations on her plans. She said she will train as a nursing helper later this month.

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Soga visits neighbors to thank them for support

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), one of five Japanese abducted to North Korea and now back in Japan, visits her neighbors in her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on Dec. 7 to thank them for their support since her return to Japan nearly two months ago. (Pool photo)

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(2)Soga gets her name back in resident registry

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, who was abducted to North Korea in 1978 and is now back in Japan, shows a national health insurance certificate she obtained from the town office of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on Nov. 7. She had her name reentered in her hometown's resident registry, from which she had been removed as a missing person. (Pool photo)

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(1)Soga gets her name back in resident registry

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), who was abducted to North Korea in 1978 and is now in Japan, hands papers to an official at the town office of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture Nov. 7 to have her name reentered in her hometown's resident registry. She had been removed from the register as a missing person. (Pool photo)

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(3)Abe, Nakayama meet Hitomi Soga

MANO, Japan - Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe fields questions from reporters Nov. 6 after meeting with Hitomi Soga, abducted to North Korea in 1978 and currently visiting Japan, at her family home in Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture. (Pool photo)

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(2)Abe, Nakayama meet Hitomi Soga

MANO, Japan - Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe (2nd from L) and Cabinet Secretariat special adviser Kyoko Nakayama (L) sit down with Hitomi Soga (2nd from R), abducted to North Korea in 1978 and now visiting Japan, her father Shigeru (3rd from R) and younger sister Tomiko Kaneko (R) at her family home in Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 6. (Pool photo)

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(1)Abe, Nakayama meet Hitomi Soga

MANO, Japan - Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe (L) is greeted by Hitomi Soga (R), abducted to North Korea in 1978 and currently visiting Japan, and her father Shigeru (2nd from R) as he arrives at her family home in Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 6. (Pool photo)

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No remarks from Soga on U.S. refusal to exempt husband

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of the five Japanese abducted to North Korea in 1978 now on a homecoming visit, lays flowers at her family grave on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 1. Soga did not reveal to her family her thoughts after hearing news that her American husband Charles Robert Jenkins in the North may face a U.S. court-martial if he visits Japan, her sister Tomiko said. (Pool photo)

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Soga visits hospital where she used to work

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, who is on her first visit in 24 years to her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture, poses with a nurse's cap at a hospital in the town of Kanai on the island on Oct. 23. Soga used to work at the hospital before being abducted to North Korea in 1978.

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Soga's family trying to restore her name in registry

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), who returned to her home in the town of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on Oct. 17 for the first time since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, and her farther Shigeru look at photos of her elementary school graduation ceremony at her home on Oct. 22. Soga's family is making arrangements to restore her name in their family registry. (Pool photo)

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Soga attends school reunion

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (C) smiles at a reunion of her elementary and junior high school classmates in the town of Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 21. Soga returned to her hometown on Oct. 17 for the first time since being abducted by North Korean agents in 1978. (Pool photo)

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(7)Abductees enjoy their homecoming

SADOGASHIMA ISLAND, Japan - Hitomi Soga (C), one of five Japanese on their first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, shakes hands with a tourist during a visit to the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center in the village of Niibo, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 20.

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(8)Abductees enjoy their homecoming

SADOGASHIMA ISLAND, Japan - Hitomi Soga, on her first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, smiles after being presented with a picture of crested ibises during a visit to the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center in the village of Niibo, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 20. (Pool photo)

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(6)Abductees spend their time in hometown

HAMO, Japan - Clad in kimono, Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese on their first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, attends a ''Shichi-go-san'' ceremony for her nephew Daisuke at a Shinto shrine in Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 19. (Pool photo)

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Soga observes crested ibises on Sadogashima Island

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, 43, one of the five Japanese nationals on their first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, visits the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center with her nephew on Oct. 20. The conservation center is on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture.

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(4)Abductees spend their time in hometown

HAMO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (C), one of five Japanese on their first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, holds the hand of her nephew Daisuke at a Shinto shrine in Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 19. She is accompanied by her younger sister Tomiko (R).

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(2)Abductees spend their time in hometown

AIKAWA, Japan - Hitomi Soga (2nd from L) enjoys chatting with her friends in a hotel room in Aikawa on Sadogashima Island, BNiigata Prefecture, on Oct. 18. It was their first reunion since Soga was abducted to North Korea in 1978. (Pool photo)

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Soga attends high school reunion

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (C), who was abducted to North Korea in 1978, chats with friends Oct. 18 at a high school class reunion on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, during her first homecoming since the abduction.

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Soga receives diploma in Sado

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (R), one of the five Japanese nationals on their first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, receives a graduation diploma from principal Kunihiro Fujiki of the prefectural Sado High School on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 18 at a makeshift ''graduation ceremony'' at a Niigata hotel. Soga was a 19-year-old student at the school at the time of her abduction.

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(1)Abductees visit relatives, graves

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga bows in front of her family's grave in the town of Mano in Niigata Prefecture's island of Sadogashima on Oct. 18, one day after she returned to the town for the first time since being abducted to North Korea in 1978. (Pool photo)

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(4)Abductees visit relatives, graves

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), along with her sister Tomiko Kaneko (C), prays at her family's grave in the town of Mano in Niigata Prefecture's island of Sadogashima on Oct. 18. Soga returned her hometown on Oct. 17 for the first time since being abducted to North Korea. (Pool photo)

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(4)5 returnees arrive in hometowns in Fukui, Niigata

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), one of the five Japanese abductees who returned from North Korea for a temporary visit, is reunited with her father Shigeru at his home in Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 17. (Pool photo)

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Police add Soga, mother, 2 men to abduction list

TOKYO, Japan - The National Police Agency on Oct. 8 adds Hitomi Soga (L in top), her mother Miyoshi Soga (R in top), Toru Ishioka (L in bottom) and Kaoru Matsuki to its list of Japanese believed abducted to North Korea. Hitomi Soga and her mother disappeared from Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture in 1978. Ishioka, from Sapporo, and Matsuki, from Kumamoto, are said to have been lured to North Korea from Spain in June 1980.

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Police to add Soga, her mother to abduction list

TOKYO, Japan - The National Police Agency is preparing to add Hitomi Soga (L) and her mother, Miyoshi (R), who disappeared together from Niigata's Sadogashima Island in 1978, to its list of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea, police sources said Oct. 7.

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Police probe area where Soga was snatched in Niigata

NIIGATA, Japan - Police conduct an inspection on Oct. 5 in front of a shop in the town of Mano on Sadogashima Island. Hitomi Soga, one of the Japanese abducted by North Korea in 1978, was snatched from the area.

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Niigata ex-Chongryon official took surreptitious pictures

NIIGATA, Japan - Chang Myong Su, 68, a former deputy chairman of the Niigata branch of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), speaks in an interview with Kyodo News. Chang said. he took pictures surreptitiously around Sadogashima island in mid-1960s on orders of his superior.

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(2)5th survivor on N. Korea list can be Niigata nurse

NIIGATA, Japan - Shigeru Soga, a resident of Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture, speaks at a news conference in Niigata on Sept. 20. He said his daughter Hitomi and his wife Miyoshi both went missing on Aug. 12, 1978.

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2 ibis chicks in Niigata opened to the public

SADO, Japan - Two chicks recently born to a pair of endangered crested ibises given to Japan by China are opened to the general public on July 15 at the Sado Crested Ibis Conservation Center on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. The chicks -- ''Shin Shin'' (L) and ''Ai Ai'' -- were hatched in May.

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2 ibis chicks in Niigata given names

TOKYO, Japan - Environment Agency chief Kayoko Shimizu reveals the names July 3 given to two chicks recently born to a pair of endangered crested ibises donated to Japan by China -- ''Ai Ai'' (L) for the female and ''Shin Shin'' for the male. The chicks were hatched May 8 and 10 at the Sado Crested Ibis Conservation Center in Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture.

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Japan's 2nd captivity-bred ibis on its way

NIIGATA, Japan - The photo shows the egg of a crested ibis laid at a conservation center on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture beginning to hatch on May 7 and is expected to emerge as soon as May 8, making it the second ibis chick bred in captivity in Japan. The photo was supplied by the conservation center.

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1st crested ibis chick of year born at Niigata center

SADO, Japan - This year's first crested ibis chick was hatched at the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center on Sadogashima Island on April 28. The chick of the endangered species weighs about 62.4 grams. Photo was provided by the center. (Kyodo)

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(7)Abductees enjoy their homecoming

SADOGASHIMA ISLAND, Japan - Hitomi Soga (C), one of five Japanese on their first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, shakes hands with a tourist during a visit to the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center in the village of Niibo, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 20. (Kyodo)

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Soga attends high school reunion

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (C), who was abducted to North Korea in 1978, chats with friends Oct. 18 at a high school class reunion on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, during her first homecoming since the abduction. (Kyodo)

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(2)Abductees spend their time in hometown

AIKAWA, Japan - Hitomi Soga (2nd from L) enjoys chatting with her friends in a hotel room in Aikawa on Sadogashima Island, BNiigata Prefecture, on Oct. 18. It was their first reunion since Soga was abducted to North Korea in 1978. (Pool photo) (Kyodo)

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(4)Abductees visit relatives, graves

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), along with her sister Tomiko Kaneko (C), prays at her family's grave in the town of Mano in Niigata Prefecture's island of Sadogashima on Oct. 18. Soga returned her hometown on Oct. 17 for the first time since being abducted to North Korea. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

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(1)Abductees visit relatives, graves

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga bows in front of her family's grave in the town of Mano in Niigata Prefecture's island of Sadogashima on Oct. 18, one day after she returned to the town for the first time since being abducted to North Korea in 1978. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

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Soga worried about family in N. Korea

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese repatriated last October after being abducted to North Korea in 1978, speaks at the town hall in her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on April 14, six months since returning to Japan. She said she is worried about her family in North Korea. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

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Soga visits neighbors to thank them for support

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), one of five Japanese abducted to North Korea and now back in Japan, visits her neighbors in her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on Dec. 7 to thank them for their support since her return to Japan nearly two months ago. (Pool photo) (Kyodo)

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Ibis chick faring well

NIIGATA, Japan - A crested ibis chick that hatched at the conservation center on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture, on May 8 looks faring well May 9, 24 hours after its birth. It is the second ibis chick to be bred in captivity in Japan. Its mother Yang Yang and her mate, You You, arrived in Japan in January 1999 as gifts from Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Emperor Akihito.

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Japan's 2nd captivity-bred ibis on its way

NIIGATA, Japan - The photo shows the egg of a crested ibis laid at a conservation center on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture beginning to hatch on May 7 and is expected to emerge as soon as May 8, making it the second ibis chick bred in captivity in Japan. The photo was supplied by the conservation center.

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(2)Soga gets her name back in resident registry

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, who was abducted to North Korea in 1978 and is now back in Japan, shows a national health insurance certificate she obtained from the town office of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture on Nov. 7. She had her name reentered in her hometown's resident registry, from which she had been removed as a missing person. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

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(1)Abe, Nakayama meet Hitomi Soga

MANO, Japan - Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe (L) is greeted by Hitomi Soga (R), abducted to North Korea in 1978 and currently visiting Japan, and her father Shigeru (2nd from R) as he arrives at her family home in Mano on Sadogashima Island, Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 6. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

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Soga visits hospital where she used to work

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, who is on her first visit in 24 years to her hometown of Mano on Sadogashima Island in Niigata Prefecture, poses with a nurse's cap at a hospital in the town of Kanai on the island on Oct. 23. Soga used to work at the hospital before being abducted to North Korea in 1978. (Kyodo)

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(8)Abductees enjoy their homecoming

SADOGASHIMA ISLAND, Japan - Hitomi Soga, on her first homecoming since being abducted to North Korea in 1978, smiles after being presented with a picture of crested ibises during a visit to the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center in the village of Niibo, Niigata Prefecture, on Oct. 20. (Pool photo) (Kyodo)

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Soga glad to get letter from family in N. Korea

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese abducted to North Korea in 1978 who returned to Japan in October last year, speaks to reporters in her hometown of Mano on Niigata Prefecture's Sadogashima Island on Jan. 17 about a letter from her family in North Korea. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

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Soga to attend workshop for nursing helper training

MANO, Japan - Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese back in Japan after being abducted by North Korea in 1978, visits the Mano town hall on Sadogashima Island on Jan. 7 for consultations on her plans. She said she will train as a nursing helper later this month. (Kyodo)