"Time is running out for my sister," said Ayako Inoue, Takato's younger sister. "As a family member, I can't just sit around watching television."
Nearby, about 600 protesters gathered in front of Koizumi's office, shouting, "Prime minister, don't let the three be killed," and waving banners that read, "Don't lend our hand to the Iraqi occupation."
But many other Japanese continued to support Koizumi.
"Japan should not give in to this kind of terrorism," said Koichi Yoshida, a 43-year-old company executive in Tokyo. "Japan has international responsibilities and national interests that are served by the military's presence there."
Though Japan has kept its troops out of harm's way after its disastrous World War II defeat, Koizumi pushed for the Iraq dispatch to strengthen the alliance with the US, Japan's main ally and trading partner.
It was a hard sell, and Japan's parliament, the Diet, had to pass special legislation last year to allow the deployment.
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