The kidnapping of three Japanese in Iraq on the night of April 8 led media people to swarm the respective family homes in Japan in search of comments.

To ensure that such media attention did not become overly aggressive, and to prevent disturbances in the respective neighborhoods, local media adopted voluntary rules for press club members that were also respected by other reporters.

Kidnappers released the three Japanese civilians after eight days of captivity. Soichiro Koriyama, 32, is a freelance photojournalist; Nahoko Takato, 34, is a volunteer worker; and Noriaki Imai, 18, is a recent high school graduate. Their respective families live in Chitose City, Hokkaido; Sapporo City, Hokkaido; and Sadowara Town, Miyazaki Prefecture.

Gunmen in Iraq later in April seized two other Japanese civilians but released them after two days' captivity. Junpei Yasuda, 30, is a freelance journalist and Nobutaka Watanabe, 36, is a human rights activist. Local media respected similar self-restrictions around their respective family homes Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture and in Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture.

The press club at the Hokkaido Prefectural Government Office that groups 22 media companies said that reporters from various media kept approaching the family of captive Takato deep into the night of April 8. Following a complaint from the family, the reporters temporarily withdrew from around the family house. Later, a representative of the press club made contact with Takato's younger brother, and delivered his comment to each media organization by telephone.

The next day, the member companies of the press club discussed how to report about the Takato family, and agreed to propose that a representative of the club directly talk to the parents once in the morning and once in the afternoon on behalf of all member companies. The family accepted that request.

In Sapporo City, where Imai's family lives, the media organizations agreed to send a single representative to visit the family twice a day and then share the information.

In each case, the media that had reporters in front of the family's homes agreed on the rules to be set. Later, magazines and other media organizations that do not belong to the press clubs accepted the agreement.

These agreements were later ended as the freed captives were about to return, raising fears that there could be major disturbances involving the media. Local lawyers appointed by the families of Takato and Imai asked the press club not to directly approach the victims out of concern for their physical and mental condition.

Prompted by the lawyers' request, the press club held an emergency meeting and agreed to comply. The press club in turn requested that (1) the freed captives or their families inform the press club in writing of the situation or atmosphere in the families once a day; and that (2) the families promptly inform the press club of any sudden changes in the condition of the freed captives or of their schedules to visit Tokyo, among other information. The club enforced the new terms for its member reporters at the homes and also let nonmembers benefit from the information-sharing arrangement.

The restrictions were dropped when, on May 6, Imai himself held a news conference and the lawyers eventually approved separate media contact with the families.

In Sadohara, Miyazaki Prefecture, reporters and photographers surrounded the home of the parents of Koriyama as soon as word broke of his captivity.

Shortly after the midnight of April 8, representatives of the local press club at the Miyagi Prefectural Police contacted Koriyama's younger brother and asked for an interview on condition that the press corps would back away from the family home. The brother Yosuke eventually met the media at around 1 a.m. in a public parking lot about 100 meters from the house, on condition that media people would not enter the lanes around his house and that they would not attempt to directly approach the family. In the ensuing days, the parking lot became the base for further newsgathering activities.

Later, an official from the town office served as a spokesman for the family and acted as a middleman between the media and the family. The official agreed to brief the media about any new developments, twice a day, once in the morning and the afternoon. Major commercial TV stations, magazines and other non-members of the press club respected this arrangement.

Some members of the three families went out to Tokyo on April 9, and held news conferences at the Tokyo office of the Hokkaido Prefectural Government almost every day, seeking the release of the captives. For the first few days, Kyodo News served as an organizer for those news conferences, later sharing the task in rotation with the national newspapers and major TV broadcasters. These media organizations took care of all arrangements for the news conferences until the release and return home of the captives.

Press club representatives at the Saitama Prefectural Government Office gave a mobile phone to the parents of Yasuda, one of the two civilians later taken hostage in Iraq. The family used the phone to inform the club about their feelings and any contacts from the Foreign Ministry. In the case of the family of Watanabe in Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture, a news conference was organized once each morning and afternoon by representatives of the press club at the Ashikaga Municipal Government Office.

<< Local Newspapers Pay Heed to Human Rights of Released Captives >>

Japanese public opinion was split on whether the five civilians seized by gunmen in Iraq were themselves partly to blame for their capture by ignoring government warnings against going to a danger zone. The editorial stances of the nation's media organizations were also split.

There was harsh criticism of the hostages on some Internet bulletin boards, but most local newspapers from the areas where the lived tried to present a balance of differing opinions while respecting the captives' human rights.

The Hokkaido Shimbun, a major daily in Hokkaido Prefecture, home to two of the kidnapped trio, assigned a correspondent covering the Self-Defense Forces in Samawa, southern Iraq, to follow the kidnapping and return to Japan with the three released hostages. The Hokkaido Shimbun on April 19 published an article by that correspondent predicting that the public would eventually rally around the volunteer dedication of the captured civilians.

A newspaper official said that they received strong protects from some readers for publishing the correspondent's "opinionated" article, but that a majority of the responses were supportive. This article caused such repercussions that the paper sponsored a lecture by the correspondent at a hotel in Sapporo City on April 22 that drew an audience of 400 people. It hosted another lecture in Asahikawa City.

The managing editor said, "Many of our readers might see our paper as defending the hostages. But our basic position is for the protection of freedom of thought, creed and other human rights, as well as protecting human life."

The managing editor of the Miyazaki Nichinichi Shimbun, the local daily in Miyazaki Prefecture, where the Koriyama family lives, said, "Even if the person in question is a native of our prefecture, it is important to cover the issue in view of the common sense shared by ordinary people." Since Koriyama is a Miyazaki native, the kidnapping was especially big news and the newspaper dealt with it extensively.

But the managing editor said that the daily also carried opinions critical of the hostages and attempted to cover the news in a well-balanced manner. It also reported in detail on its attempts to restrain reporters and avoid other problems in newsgathering activities. "These problems were once just in-house issues. But today, they are problems for society at large. Accountability to our readers is an obligation," he said.

There were no major disturbances on the scene due to the quick adoption of preventive measures, the managing editor said, adding that just like discussions at a third-party ombudsman committee, all outcomes, good or bad, should be printed in the newspaper to enhance the consciousness inside the company and to publicize the company's stance to the outside world.

Yasuda, one of the second group of captives, lives in Saitama Prefecture. The managing editor of the Saitama Shimbun, the local daily, said, "Everyone shares the prayer for the safety of the hostages. But we, the media, should stick to the basics of making judgments and writing articles for publication in a cool-headed manner. Otherwise, our news reports might descend into sensationalism." He said the daily could react well to the news as one editorial staff member maintained constant contact with Yasuda via e-mail. Yasuda, a freelance journalist, contributed a series of articles to the newspaper in the past.

The family home of Watanabe, who was seized together with Yasuda, is in Tochigi Prefecture. The managing editor of the Shimotsuke Shimbun, a local daily in Tochigi Prefecture, said, "Although Watanabe is a native of Tochigi, he is based in Tokyo. As a result, our coverage focused on the reactions and activities of his parents."