10,000km Field Survey, 25th Session (Accompanying)
The Blue Ribbon Association for Reserve Officers accompanied the Tokyo Printing Industry Association on its 10,000-kilometer on-site investigation.
(1) Through on-site investigations, we will deepen our understanding of individual incidents and North Korea's abduction and espionage activities.
(2) To deter future espionage activities through public awareness campaigns.
(3) Record messages from families of specific missing persons on-site for the shortwave radio broadcast "Shiokaze" directed to North Korea.
Activity Log ■January 29, 2015, 09:00: Assembled in front of the "Association for Investigating the Problem of Specific Missing Persons" in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.
[In front of the Association for the Investigation of Specific Missing Persons]
We were given an explanation of the day's schedule. Perhaps because of the recent abduction of Japanese citizens by ISIS, several media crews with large cameras were present. The essence of the situation is the same: Japanese citizens have been abducted. Some of those abducted by North Korea are still alive, while others resisted and were killed.
[Sarugakucho, Chiyoda Ward]
We will examine newly discovered information regarding the former printing company site where Sakae Kobayashi is said to have worked. We will also discuss the inconsistencies mentioned below.
Sakae Kobayashi disappeared from Sarugakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, on August 21, 1966. A few days before her disappearance, she had been unwell and absent from work. She told a colleague that she was going to the doctor from her company dormitory, but she never returned home and has been missing ever since.
Secretary Katsuno had brought a map from 1963, which was compared to the current topography, but the townscape has changed dramatically since Mr. Kobayashi disappeared.
Furthermore, during the preliminary investigation, it was discovered that around 2012, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had examined Sakae Kobayashi's employee pension records and found some inexplicable points regarding his place of employment and period of employment.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Kobayashi's pension records show that he retired from a printing company in Sarugaku-cho in August 1965 (Showa 40), one year before his disappearance, and that in August 1966 (Showa 41), the year of his disappearance, he was working for a women's clothing manufacturing company.
However, in reality, in late August of 1966 (Showa 41), the year of his disappearance, a letter arrived from the printing company stating that "he was last seen inside the company on August 21 and his whereabouts have been unknown since then." Furthermore, the fact that his two brothers later went to the printing company to pick up Sakae's belongings makes the situation puzzling.
In the past, errors in pension records have become a social problem, but it is unlikely that another employer would also be mistakenly recorded. Therefore, further investigation is needed to determine the meaning of this contradiction.
[Tachibana 6-chome, Sumida-ku, Tokyo]
Katsuo Hayasaka disappeared around April 1968. His family was informed that he had been missing for several months by a friend with whom he was living in Honjo, Sumida Ward.
The explanation was given at a nearby riverbank. From left to right: Hayasaka Katsuo's younger brother, Hayasaka Hokichi; his older brother, Hayasaka Yuji; and Soda Hideo, Executive Director of the Research Committee and Secretary of this organization.
On New Year's Day of the same year (1968), when he visited the home of his older brother, Yuji, who was living in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture at the time, he told his second older brother, who was also visiting his brother's home, that he felt he was being followed. He had also previously stated that he wanted to go to Osaka to study printing, but there was no evidence that he had taken up employment in Osaka after his disappearance.
A survey was conducted in Honjo 2-chome, Sumida Ward, and its surrounding areas, comparing maps with the actual terrain. Participants included Hokichi Hayasaka, Yuji Hayasaka, Executive Director Soda, and Representative Araki. Hayasaka was interviewed.
[Suidobashi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo]
Investigation of the area where Nobuo Hidaka worked Circumstances of disappearance: In the autumn of 1966, on September 25th he resigned from the printing company in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo where he was working, and on the 29th of the same month he headed to Osaka but disappeared and has been missing ever since. He sent a letter to his family saying that he had found a new job in Osaka, but it has not been confirmed at this time that he actually took a job in Osaka. In 2006, a North Korean defector, Mr. H, testified that he was with a man resembling Mr. Hidaka at a hospital in Pyongyang, and because this testimony is accurate, it is considered highly likely that he was abducted.
Investigation of the area where Setsuko Nakatsuka worked Date of disappearance: June 16, 1963 According to what her family heard from the company, after finishing work, she left the dormitory with a male colleague, Mr. A, saying she was going to buy a snack, and has been missing ever since. Her clothing at the time is unknown, but it is said that she was wearing sandals and carrying some change.
Despite extensive searches by the company, the whereabouts of the two individuals remain unknown.
In 1963, when Mr. Nakatsuka disappeared, the area around the printing company was a mix of residential areas, printing factories, and publishing-related companies, with cafes, restaurants, and stores scattered throughout. However, now that 50 years have passed since his disappearance, the locations of the stores at that time have been replaced by buildings and other structures, making it difficult to identify the stores he may have visited.
Nobuo Hidaka, who disappeared in September 1966 (Showa 41), three years after the disappearances of Mr. Nakatsuka and Ms. A, worked at a printing company that was only 70-80 meters away from the printing company where Mr. Nakatsuka and Ms. A worked, although the town names were different. In fact, both his workplace and the employee dormitory where he lived were in almost the same area. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that Mr. Nakatsuka and Ms. A were already in the same area when Mr. Hidaka started working at the printing company in the spring of 1963 (Showa 38), and that they lived in the area for about two months until their disappearance in mid-June of the same year.