Japanese Airsofter gets captured by ISIS because he wanted to go to a War Zone
66 replies, posted
[quote]A source with knowledge of a Japanese national captured by the Islamic State in Syria says the man was an obsessive military role-player who wanted to go to a war zone to impress his friends.
Mr. Yukawa was not a private military contractor or mercenary, and had no military experience, the source said, though he had opened a website for a security company, PMC (Private Military Company) Co Ltd ([url]http://privatemilitary.jp/[/url]). However, the company is nothing more than the website and had not actually taken part in any security contracts, the source said. Instead, Mr. Yukawa wanted to have “the experience of a private military company”.
Mr. Yukawa went to Syria to impress his friends from the extreme military roleplaying community, and also because he wanted to show his friends that he was “like a real veteran soldier”, the source said. Many of Mr. Yukawa’s friends actually believed he was a real soldier, and that is [b]one reason why he went to Syria, the source said — to prove himself.[/b][/quote]
[URL=http://www.chechensinsyria.com/?p=22395]Source[/URL]
Survival game is another name for airsoft in Japan. Videos also in source.
Because if you can imagine it, you can do it.
Let's just hope he can make it home safe.
[QUOTE]...who wanted to go to a war zone to impress his friends.[/QUOTE]
Peer pressure does strange things to a person.
He's a total fucking idiot though. The video in source just cements that fact. If he gets killed, at least he got to live a dream of his or whatever it is he had.
[editline]24th August 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Bradyns;45782148]Peer pressure does strange things to a person.[/QUOTE]
I doubt it was just peer pressure. He looks a bit weird in the source vid. Doubt he's all there.
Why would anyone want go into an active warzone, especially if they have nothing to do with the conflict.
[QUOTE=muffinmastah;45782166]Why would anyone want go into an active warzone, especially if they have nothing to do with the conflict.[/QUOTE]
Immersion, duh. He's a veteran airsoft player, he's had years of training compared to the meagre amount the enemy has had. He was born for this. He got tired of scrubs back in Japan ruining his immersion and posing no challenge, so he went to find some more difficult enemies.
He's actually there to rescue another airsoft comrade. Hang in the there, Eli!
What a dumbass, how stupid can you be to think you can go to a warzone with zero experience/training and think you'll come out of it perfectly fine?
Another [url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/japanese-man-haruna-yukawa-is-captured-and-beaten-in-syria-by-uk-jihadists-9677276.html]source[/URL] verifying he was captured
[quote]A Japanese man has apparently been captured and beaten by Islamist militants in Syria who have posted videos of the incident on the internet.
Japanese diplomats are trying to verify the reports. The man has been identified as Haruna Yakawa. His Facebook page describes him as chief executive of Private Military Company, Japan.
One video shows him lying on the ground looking as if he has been beaten, surrounded by gunmen from the Islamic State, formerly Isis.
He is questioned by an Isis fighter with an English accent who is off-camera. A knife can be seen being waved near the face of Yakawa. “Where are you from?” asks the Isis fighter. “Japan,” replies Yakawa.
“Do not lie to me. You are not from Japan.” “My name is Haruna Yakawa.”
“Why are you here?” “Job,” said Yakawa. “What job?” “Photographer.”
“No photographer. Photographer no dress like this, Why you have gun? You soldier,” says the fighter. “No, I half-doctor, half-journalist,” says Yakawa.
In a later video, Yakawa is led away looking bloodied.
According to the Kyodo news, Yakawa, 42, was with the Islamic Front, a rival to Isis, when he was captured. An Islamic Front leader said he entered Syria last month from Turkey and was robbed of all his cash on the way.
[IMG]http://www.independent.co.uk/img/rO0ABXQAY2Z7aHR0cDovL3d3dy5pbmRlcGVuZGVudC5jby51ay9pbmNvbWluZy9hcnRpY2xlOTY3NzI5OC5lY2UvYWx0ZXJuYXRlcy93NjIwLzktWXVrYXdhMi5qcGd9Zjc3NzdmMzIwdA==.jpg[/IMG][/quote]
Fucking sucks, but as a fellow airsofter, I will admit every so often I ponder what it'd be like to get shot at in a war zone. Stupid as hell though, his reason to fight in a conflict sounds rather naive.
How on Earth could you believe that would be a good idea?
Is this like a japanese version of jace and eli maybe.
[QUOTE=Kill001;45782245]Another [url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/japanese-man-haruna-yukawa-is-captured-and-beaten-in-syria-by-uk-jihadists-9677276.html]source[/URL] verifying he was captured
Fucking sucks, but as a fellow airsofter, I will admit every so often I ponder what it'd be like to get shot at in a war zone. Stupid as hell though, his reason to fight in a conflict sounds rather naive.[/QUOTE]
Well if you hear cracking, you know someone is shooting something at you.
[QUOTE=TheNerdPest14;45782342]Well if you hear cracking, you know someone is shooting something at you.[/QUOTE]
Well yeah, I've had rednecks randomly shoot into our play area once thinking it was somehow unoccupied, and it definitely cracks
I meant moreso in a large scale conflict where people are out to kill you, and you don't know when death or horrible injury comes around the corner. It's a horrible thought but it strikes my morbid curiosity
[QUOTE=Kill001;45782392]Well yeah, I've had rednecks randomly shoot into our play area once thinking it was somehow unoccupied, and it definitely cracks
I meant moreso in a large scale conflict where people are out to kill you, and you don't know when death or horrible injury comes around the corner. It's a horrible thought but [B]it strikes my morbid curiosity[/B][/QUOTE]
Something tells me we're gonna be reading another article like this soon...
[QUOTE=outlawpickle;45782432]Something tells me we're gonna be reading another article like this soon...[/QUOTE]
I think he learned from this story.
Follow your dreams.
This is the same situation as this:
[url]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1237087[/url]
Why do people think so highly of the other guy, but find this one to be an idiot? I'm sure they're both aware of the risks involved, and that Mr. Yukawa got unlucky.
He's as good as dead at this point.
And imo it's hard to have sympathy for a guy who left his home country to kill people for reasons as frivolous as his.
[QUOTE=Krinkels;45782593]This is the same situation as this:
[URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1237087[/URL]
Why do people think so highly of the other guy, but find this one to be an idiot? I'm sure they're both aware of the risks involved, and that Mr. Yukawa got unlucky.[/QUOTE]
Probably because one bought life insurance in the event that he dies for his daughters and he lived an uneventful depressing life so his implied suicidal tendencies drives him to take photos in a dangerous area
The other appears to simply want to impress friends and to live his dream of being in real combat because of airsoft games he played back home
[QUOTE=Kommodore;45782626]He's as good as dead at this point.
And imo it's hard to have sympathy for a guy who left his home country to kill people for reasons as frivolous as his.[/QUOTE]
I feel sympathy for him since he's clearly very very dumb and didn't really know what he was getting into.
You ain't from around here are you boy?
A few days ago I saw a video of IS guys interrogating him. Its very unfortunate that he has his facebook occupation as "PMC".
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5oV_ug7stM[/media]
Let's hope he atleast brought Stinger missiles for the Bulldozer of Fallujah. In all seriousness- this is pretty sad.
[QUOTE=outlawpickle;45782432]Something tells me we're gonna be reading another article like this soon...[/QUOTE]
It's honestly a pretty common fantasy. Not many people skip joining the army to find their own way to an active warzone though. That really goes far beyond fantasising.
This story reminds me of Kevin Dawes, a poster from Something Awful.
[url]http://libyavoices.blogspot.com.au/search/label/kevin%20dawes[/url]
Read part one and work your way up if you're interested. It's a fascinating read.
He was a paranoid person that was convinced the CIA were after him. He traveled to Libya during the revolution as a journalist before getting involved treating wounded then moving on as a fighter towards the end.
Most likely dead or detained in Syria last time I heard about him.
You guys know he's dead already, right?
[editline]Edit:[/editline]
It was announced on that weird ISIS twitter account before it was suspended.
Oh damn, now I feel awful. I thought they'd release him because he's obviously not a soldier.
[QUOTE=Maximoon;45782748]You guys know he's dead already, right?
[editline]Edit:[/editline]
It was announced on that weird ISIS twitter account before it was suspended.[/QUOTE]
Any screen caps of it?
Not sure, i'm looking at Japanese news sources and one states on the 18th, ISIS' twitter said they executed him but on the 22nd, another Syrian group is negotiating his release
Another source said he was being held at Aleppo as of the [del]22nd[/del] 21st
[editline]here[/editline]
Asahi Shimbun News states:
[quote] A Japanese man taken hostage by an Islamic extremist group in northern Syria is being held in a city near Aleppo, said a senior official of the Islamic Front, a Syrian opposition group.
The official told The Asahi Shimbun on the night of Aug. 21 via telephone that the captive has been transferred to the city of Al-Bab, located 30 kilometers northeast of Aleppo.[/quote]
[URL="http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201408230031"]Source[/URL]
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;45782784]Any screen caps of it?[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://kwout.com/cutout/m/g9/b6/t94_bor.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=muffinmastah;45782166]Why would anyone want go into an active warzone, especially if they have nothing to do with the conflict.[/QUOTE]Well besides the warboner this unfortunate kid has, probably the two biggest reasons are money or a moral conviction. If I had a passport and money for the trip, I would have gone off to help the Kurds a long time ago in their struggle against ISIS. While I'm a damn good marksman, but they would probably need my other skills and knowledge far more than just another trigger man (which is all I'd be) and I'd be happy to oblige.
I think there's a lot of people out there who would be willing to take the fight to ISIS, provided they had the means to do so.
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