<figure id="attachment_464424" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464424" style="width: 905px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="589944f5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/b25b7e03ea07e335e26848f7ffa1ebc8.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464424" class="wp-caption-text">Yuki&#8217;s whereabouts are still unknown, and his steps are shrouded in mystery&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Mystery Remains at the Scene</span></h3>
<p> On April 12, a pair of black sneakers similar to Yūki&#8217;s were found in the mountains between Yūki&#8217;s home and school. The police are hurrying to confirm whether the sneakers belong to Yuki.</p>
<p> However, in contrast to the search that has made no progress so far, the news reports are becoming more and more heated, and there was a scene where a senior investigator gave a nail to the news media.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I would like to ask you to be a little more calm in your dealings with the media.</span></p>
<p> This statement was made about two weeks after the disappearance. A reporter in Osaka who has been covering the case since immediately after the disappearance recalls, &#8220;At the time, there were just 40 investigators working on the case.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At the time, 40 investigators were still on the scene. Some companies called for immediate support, hoping that they might have found a clue to solving the case. The comments of the investigative executives were in response to these developments. In the end, there was no movement toward a resolution, and we immediately returned to a 60-man team.</span></p>
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<p> The atmosphere at the scene of the investigation seemed to have come to a standstill, as the situation had been going on for a prolonged period of time without any action.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Yūki went missing near the elementary school, but it is inconceivable that he was not seen on the security cameras until the place where his backpack was found. There is no eyewitness testimony either, although it is a big national highway to the place where he was found and there is a fair amount of traffic. However, there are circumstances that prevent us from covering the case as much as we would like, even though there are some puzzling points like this.</span></p>
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<p> For example, Yuki&#8217;s house is located in a mountain forest, but the road leading to the house is marked with a sign that reads, &#8220;No news gathering or photographing allowed,&#8221; making it impossible to approach the house. The road leading to the house has a &#8220;No Reporting or Photographing&#8221; sign, making it impossible to approach the house.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When one media outlet tried to cover the area near the house, they ran into trouble with the neighbors, and the police were dispatched to the scene. I waited near the sign and tried to talk to the people who came out, but they drove away, so I couldn&#8217;t do that either. Above all, I was on the victim&#8217;s side, so I couldn&#8217;t be too aggressive in my interviews.</span></p>
<p> For the same reason, there seems to be a limit to the coverage of family relationships.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Family Affairs cannot be reported."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">An elementary school student was found to be in possession of a GPS device.</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Yūki originally lived with his mother, but around the same time his mother married his father, whom she met at work, he moved to live with his maternal grandmother at their current home. His maternal grandmother and Yuki get along well, and are often seen taking walks together.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The last person who is believed to have seen Yūki is his father, who is said to be a quiet man. He is said to be a quiet man, but when it comes to interviewing him, we have to be careful because he is the victim of the crime. With the exception of a few media outlets, we have not interviewed him near his workplace, nor have we made a big deal about him being a &#8220;new father. At the moment, we don&#8217;t know how he is related to the case,&#8221; he said.</span></p>
<p> While the situation has not moved forward, a new term has begun at the school. Students at Sonobe Elementary School in Nantan City, where Yuki attended, are now allowed to have GPS devices in their possession. With the disappearance of a child so close to home, no parent with a child can afford to be a stranger to the situation.</p>
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<p> According to statistics released by the National Police Agency in June 2013, there were 1,035 missing persons under the age of 9 in 2012.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> This figure is only the number of missing persons recognized by the police and reported to them. In reality, many more children may have gone missing in one way or another.</span></p>
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<p> Mr. Toshihiko Matsumaru, a crime prevention advisor, says so. Mr. Matsumaru has been giving lectures on crime prevention throughout Japan, and he says that the number of requests on the subject of &#8220;child abduction&#8221; has been increasing rapidly. We asked Mr. Matsumaru how to prepare for &#8220;child abduction.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The first thing I ask people to do is to walk with their children on the way to school,&#8221; said Matsumaru.</span></p>
<p> By walking with your children along school routes and in parks where they often play, you will be able to identify dangerous areas that are out of sight and out of mind.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Walking with your child, you can identify places in your living area where there are blind spots and warn your child, for example, &#8220;This place is dangerous because no one can see it from the windows of any house,&#8221; or &#8220;If someone shouts at you here, you should immediately run to the main street because there are no people around.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Respect the intuition of I don&#39;t like this."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">There&#8217;s nothing wrong with doubting the other person.</span></h3>
<p> And it is also important to trust children&#8217;s intuition, he says.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Children&#8217;s intuitive danger signals, such as &#8216;I don&#8217;t like something,&#8217; or &#8216;I&#8217;m scared,&#8217; should be respected,&#8221; he said. If they feel that way, they should follow their instincts and run away. Tell them that it is never wrong to be suspicious of others.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, it is not true that all suspicious people have a suspicious atmosphere. In the past, there was an incident in which a kind-looking woman tried to take a person away by calling out, &#8216;Your mother has had an accident, let&#8217;s go to the hospital right away. This ended in an attempt, but again, when children are told that a family member has been in an accident, they may panic and follow her.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In order to prepare for this kind of situation, it is important to share with other family members who will come to pick you up in case of an emergency, saying, &#8216;If something happens, one of your relatives will come to pick you up.</span></p>
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<p> He then told us about crime prevention goods that we should prepare on a regular basis.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> A buzzer is important,&#8221; he said. It is also important to attach it to a readily accessible place, such as the shoulder strap of a school bag. Ideally, the buzzer should be 110 decibels, which is about the same loudness as the siren of a police car.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> And practice how to use it. It is important to know how to operate it and how loud it sounds. If something happens and you don&#8217;t know how to use it, it could be too late. Parents should also pay attention to maintenance, such as replacing batteries regularly.</span></p>
<p> Key chains with GPS functions are also effective.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If you regularly check your child&#8217;s whereabouts, you can be prepared for emergencies,&#8221; he says. If it&#8217;s time for them to be at the school, but they are in a completely different and remote location, there is a possibility that they may have been involved in something. There are privacy issues for children, but at least during compulsory schooling, it&#8217;s okay for parents to keep track of their children&#8217;s whereabouts.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> But the important thing is not to rely on goods, but to run away and speak out. For this reason, Mr. Matsumaru stresses that we should be aware of crime prevention on a regular basis in case something happens.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If you think something is wrong,&#8221; he said, &#8220;run away and leave the area immediately. In an emergency situation, it is difficult to speak up, but if you can, you should shout. If you say, &#8216;Help me,&#8217; it might be taken as you are just joking around with your friends, so you shout, &#8216;Please call the police,&#8217; or &#8216;I don&#8217;t know this person. It is more important to keep your distance than to ring a burglar alarm.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The most important thing is to raise awareness of crime prevention in everyday casual conversation, saying things like, &#8216;If something happens, run away immediately. Such knowledge of crime prevention makes a big difference when something happens.</span></p>

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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" [Image] Where is Yuki-kun..."></div>
<figure id="attachment_464406" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464406" style="width: 907px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="fadfa0b1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/07a288be6d48d900e188b38173b26081.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464406" class="wp-caption-text">Photo of Yuki on a flyer calling for information from the Nantan Police Dept.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_464407" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464407" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a275ac3f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/d0c734b4cd5fb0689d068e4aeb6b44dd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464407" class="wp-caption-text"> The location where the run backpack was found. The backpack was found behind a guardrail.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_464408" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464408" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1ae137bc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/59aa9fca8a49a9907f6e24e0dec2f8a0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464408" class="wp-caption-text"> The elementary school Yuki attended. On the day he went missing, Yuki, who was in the 5th grade, was being driven by his father to attend his graduation ceremony.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_464409" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-464409" style="width: 1328px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="926a22a1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/e81fe3e5225ce5af0a10cc9d63005eaa.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-464409" class="wp-caption-text"> A sign that reads, &#8220;No news coverage or photography allowed. Currently, the media is covering the event outside of this sign.</figcaption></figure>


 Nakahira

 Twenty days have passed since a fifth-grade boy went missing in Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture. His whereabouts are still unknown, and many mysteries remain. Meanwhile, attention is focused on what can be done to protect children from suspicious persons. We spoke with an expert.

Unidentified boy, 6th grade, Kyoto: Sneakers found!　While the scene of the crime was agitated&#8230; &#8220;Measures against suspicious persons toward children&#8221; is attracting attention.

Unidentified boy, 6th grade, Kyoto: Sneakers found!　While the scene of the crime was agitated… “Measures against suspicious persons toward children” is attracting attention.

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Unidentified boy, 6th grade, Kyoto: Sneakers found! While the scene of the crime was agitated… “Measures against suspicious persons toward children” is attracting attention.

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Unidentified boy, 6th grade, Kyoto: Sneakers found!　While the scene of the crime was agitated… “Measures against suspicious persons toward children” is attracting attention.