Kenji Goto is a Japanese journalist who is currently being held hostage by the Islamic State.
Kenji Goto, the Japanese journalist who had been taken hostage and was reportedly beheaded by the Islamic State on early Sunday, was known as a Christian journalist whose passion was to reveal the human suffering caused by war and conflicts.
“While feeling a great personal loss, I remain extremely proud of my husband who reported the plight of people in conflict areas like Iraq, Somalia, and Syria,” wrote Goto’s wife through the Rory Peck Trust website. “It was his passion to highlight the effects on ordinary people, especially through the eyes of children, and to inform the rest of us of the tragedies of war.”
Admiration for Goto and the values by which he lived his life have been widespread throughout media ever since the Islamic State revealed that he was one of its hostages. Supporters created a Facebook page called, “I AM KENJI,” which has been liked by 49,088 people thus far, and in which many have posted photos of themselves showing support for his release.
One of the posts shows Goto walking alongside with Syrian natives, and says, “This is the Kenji that the world should know about. A man who always was doing his best to help, especially the children. Free Kenji.”
Another post features excerpts from Goto’s blog, translated by Robert Campbell, which show glimpses of Goto’s thoughts and observations during his coverage in various high-conflict areas, such as this excerpt of his reflections while in Chisinau, Moldova in April 2012:
“Night duty for the national police in Moldova means bringing in the kids. Every month over one hundred children are taken into custody in Chisinau. Apartment-block boiler rooms, basements, disused ditches… they sweep up everywhere.
'Just hope they don’t get mixed up in crime.'
'It’s cold out there, you could freeze to death. Any of them dead? Sure, once in a while' (Police officer).
Temperatures drop stiffly from late October, threatening children with death. […] The police track their records, and whenever contact can be made with the parents, they try to send them home. Children without any relatives, though, end up at one of the orphanages in town.”
Twitter users have also been using the platform to tweet and retweet about Goto. One four-year-old tweet by Goto has resurfaced and been retweeted by some 20,000 people:
“Closing my eyes and holding still. It’s the end if I get mad or scream. It’s close to a prayer. Hate is not an undertaking for men; judgment lies with God. My Arab brothers taught me.”
Many have been using #IAmKenji to post videos of his past coverage, and express their condolences and support for Goto.
Goto was a journalist with Independent Press, and also wrote opinion columns for the Japan’s Christian Today. Before leaving to Syria last May, he told Japan’s Christian Today in an interview:
“Though the place that I’m about to visit for coverage is a place with extreme hardships, it’s also a place in which people are still carrying on their lives despite it. I want to walk with these people in the midst of their suffering. There’s a message that I want to relay to them. That as the world sees the way they live their lives, there’s no telling what kind of solution it may be able to discover.”
