Relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and government officials took part in a memorial service on Saturday for Yokota Shigeru who passed in June. He was the father of abductee Yokota Megumi.

A large sign carrying a message that read "Thank you, Mr. Yokota Shigeru" was raised at the venue in central Tokyo.

The father of a Japanese man who was abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and returned to Japan decades later has died.

Informed sources say Chimura Tamotsu died on Friday at the age of 93 at a hospital in the city of Obama in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan.

A funeral has been held for the father of Yokota Megumi, a Japanese national abducted and taken to North Korea in the 1970s.

Yokota Shigeru spent half his life trying to bring his daughter home from North Korea. He died on Friday at the age of 87 without being able to see his loved one again.

A court in Japan has sentenced a man to 16 years in prison for the fatal abuse of his 10-year-old daughter.

The Chiba district court on Thursday handed down the prison term to Yuichiro Kurihara for inflicting injuries to his daughter Mia that resulted in her death.