Sado: Former Japanese abductee to North Korea Hitomi Soga feels her heart ache each time she thinks about her mother, a missing abductee, while 20 years have passed since Soga returned to Japan.

Soga, 63, and her mother, Miyoshi, were kidnapped together on Aug. 12, 1978, on their way home from shopping on the island of Sado, Niigata Prefecture, central Japan.

Soga was among the five Japanese abductees who returned to their home country Oct. 15, 2002, about a month after a historic summit between then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

At the summit, Kim admitted his country’s involvement in abducting Japanese nationals for the first time and apologized.

Soga has never seen Miyoshi since their abduction. “I’ve been trying hard to find my mother in my memories,” the daughter said, but she remembers less and less of her as time goes by.

On the day of the summit, Soga met with a Japanese investigation team in North Korea and was shown a photograph of Miyoshi.

She could not recognize her mother in the photo, however, and had to ask who she was.

 “I couldn’t recognize the face of my own mother, whom I had longed for so much.

No matter how hard I thought about my mother, she looked like a different person in the photo,” Soga said.

Soga has been living in Sado since her return.

Hoping to realize the early return of her mother, she collects signatures for petitions and gives speeches.

Miyoshi was abducted at age 46. “I don’t know how to shape the image of my 90-year-old mother in my mind,” said Soga, who worries about Miyoshi’s living conditions and health.

Soga is also worried about the aging families of other abductees believed to be still staying in the reclusive country.

Parents of such abductees have died one after another, without being able to reunite with their children. “I’m all anger.

I guess something could have been done before things reached this point,” she said.

Soga’s memories of her mother remain frozen since the abduction 44 years ago.

She imagines telling her: “I have so many things I want to talk with you about, mom. I’m waiting for you to come back as soon as possible.”

JIJI Press