Haruna Yakagawa, one of the two Japanese hostages held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), led a troubled life before he was abducted by extremist Islamic terrorists in Aleppo in August.

When Kenji Goto, a war correspondent and who became a friend of Yakagawa, heard of his capture, Goto returned to Syria to locate Yakagawa, only to end as the second hostage that ISIS is asking Japan for a US$200 million ransom.

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If Tokyo fails to produce the amount, ISIS has threatened to behead the two Japanese like the way it decapitated a few months ago two American and two British hostages.

Yukagawa wanted to be a military contractor and got a chance to fulfill this dream after his wife died of cancer, he became bankrupt and attempted to take his life. He flew to Syria where he met Goto in April 2014, reports the Irish Times.

They became friends and Yukagawa asked the journalist to go with him in June to Iraq so he would learn how to operate as a military contractor in a conflict area. Goto told Reuters that Yukagawa was clueless and needed an experienced guide, so he accepted the latter's invitation.

After one month, Goto returned to Japan, and Yukagawa was kidnapped in August. When he heard of what happened, Goto went back to Iraq to seek help from local friends on how he could help find Yukagawa.

He left Tokyo, bound for Istanbul and from there went to Syria. He emailed friends on October 25 that he had crossed the border and was safe. From there, he was last heard on his way to Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State.

Amid attempts of the Japanese government to reach ISIS to negotiate for the release of Togo and Yakagawa, an academic has offered to go to the Middle East to deal with the ISIS.

Tokyo said it would consider the offer by Islamic law expert Ko Nakata, who is also a former professor at the Doshisha University in Kyoto just to spare Goto and Yukagawa from the sharp knife of jihadi John.

TagsJapanese hostages