Photo Exhibition of Abductee Yokota Opens in Tokyo’s Shinjuku

May 9, 2018

Tokyo- -A photo exhibition featuring Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national who was abducted to North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13, has opened in Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo.

"It's painful beyond words to look at the photos while being filled with sorrow," said Megumi's 82-year-old mother, Sakie, who visited the exhibition Tuesday.

She called for the swift return of her daughter.

The exhibition was hastily arranged to heighten momentum toward rescuing Japanese abductees ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit expected to be held by early June.

The exhibition displays 15 photos, mainly those of Megumi aged between 2 and 13 that were taken by her father, Shigeru, 85. He is currently hospitalized.

With diplomatic maneuvering accelerating over North Korea, Sakie expressed her concern about Japan's diplomacy.

"I hope the abductees will return home safely somehow," she said.

Ryuzo Nagaoka, a 74-year-old man who visited the exhibition, said that Megumi's abduction is not somebody else's problem as he also has a daughter.

"I feel a lump in my throat," he said.

Nagaoka, from Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, added that he hopes that Japan will work as a whole to bring back the abductees as soon as possible.

The exhibition, set to run until Sunday, is hosted by a support group including residents of the apartment building where Megumi's mother and father live. Jiji Press