Masumi Koda, father of Shosei Koda, identified as the Japanese man taken hostag e and threatened to be beheaded by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Iraq, speaks to reporters with his weeping wife Setsuko outside their home in Nogata, southern Japan October 27, 2004. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insisted that Japan would not withdraw its troops from Iraq despite a threat to behead the hostage unless Tokyo pulled them out. [Reuters]

Masumi Koda speaks to reporters with his weeping wife Setsuko outside their home in Nogata, southern Japan October 27, 2004. [Reuters]

Japan's Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shuzen Tanigawa (R) and Japan's ambassador to Jordan Kochi Obata look at an Iraqi map in a room for emergency meetings in Amman October 28, 2004. Tanigawa on Thursday headed an emergency meeting in Amman to coordinate efforts to rescue kidnapped Japanese national Shosei Koda. [Reuters]

Demonstrators in Tokyo call for the Japanese government to withdraw its troops from Iraq after a militant group threated that they will behead a Japanese hostage identified as Shosei Koda unless Tokyo pulled them out, October 27, 2004. [Reuters]

A Japanese minister arrived in Jordan on Thursday to seek the release of a hostage in Iraq, less than 24 hours before a deadline set by his captors, who have threatened to behead the youth unless Japan withdraws its troops.

Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group said in an Internet video on Wednesday that they would behead 24-year-old Shosei Koda within 48 hours if Japan did not meet its demand.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has insisted that Japan's non-combat troops would stay in southern Iraq, a decision that won backing from Japanese media.

"This is a wicked crime aimed at blocking the democratization and reconstruction of Iraq," the conservative Yomiuri Shimbun daily said in an editorial.

"It is the principle of the international community not to bow to terrorists' threats, so it was only natural that the prime minister quickly declared his firm stance."

Liberal media echoed that view.

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shuzen Tanigawa told reporters after arriving in Amman that there had been no contact with the hostage-takers and that he would ask Iraq's neighbors to help resolve the crisis.

"I will gather and analyze as much information as possible and put in all efforts to win his release."

Five Japanese civilians were taken hostage in Iraq in April and militants threatened to kill three of them unless Japan pulled out its troops.

The hostages were released, but came under heavy criticism for going to Iraq despite government warnings about the danger.

Media, officials and many ordinary Japanese questioned what had prompted Koda to risk his life by traveling to Iraq.

"Why did Mr Koda go to Iraq at this time? There are reports that he didn't think it was very dangerous," said the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily. "It cannot be helped if this is called a reckless act."

Media reports said Koda, who comes from Fukuoka in southern Japan, had taken a bus to Iraq from Amman last week despite being told by locals of the dangers of a foreigner entering Iraq.

"I'm going to Iraq for about a week on a trip," Japanese media quoted him as telling Japanese tourists in Amman.

UNPREPARED YOUNG MAN

Media said the long-haired youth did not seem well prepared for a trip to a country where more than 150 foreigners have been kidnapped this year and about a third of them killed.

He was not carrying a mobile phone or much cash -- possibly as little as $20 -- and had not even booked a hotel in Baghdad.

After failing to find lodgings, he was spotted roaming around one of Baghdad's most dangerous districts, the reports said.

Koda's family said their son had gone abroad in January with plans to visit many countries, including New Zealand, but they had not been told of any trip to Iraq.

"As his parents, we are hoping that our second son, who left home in high spirits, will return in high spirits," Koda's father Masumi told reporters late on Wednesday.

The hostage crisis poses a challenge to Koizumi, who decided to send Japanese troops to Iraq despite strong public opposition.

Japan has sent about 550 non-combat troops to Samawa, 168 miles south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, for humanitarian and reconstruction work.

The troop dispatch has divided the Japanese public and many critics say it violates Japan's pacifist constitution.

Four Japanese -- two diplomats and two journalists -- have been killed in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led war.

A poll published by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Monday showed that 63 percent of respondents opposed Japan's plan to extend the deployment of its forces in Iraq. A decision has to be made by mid-December.