Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara Meets with Megumi Yokota’s Mother, Last Surviving Parent of an Abductee

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:56 JST, January 20, 2026

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara met with Sakie Yokota, the 89-year-old mother of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korea at the age of 13, and Megumi’s former classmates at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Monday.

Masaki Ikeda, 61, the representative of Megumi’s former classmates, handed Kihara a petition calling for Megumi to be quickly returned to Japan. The petition received 28,827 signatures collected at events and online.

Sakie, who will turn 90 next month, said, “It is my sincere hope that this year, we will see positive movement in some way.”

Kihara, who also serves as minister in charge of the abduction issue, said, “I am approaching this with the resolve to be the last minister in charge.” He continued, “The entire Takaichi Cabinet will work as one to bring her back.”