I hate to give this book a negative review, but I have to. The story itself was fascinating. I did not know the history behind it and was very interested and horrified to learn the truth behind North Korea's treachery. However, the book itself was very difficult to read. I understand that details are important, but in several instances I felt there was to much detail and too much repetition. For instance, the description of the disappearance and finding out that her daughter was missing was crucial to the story, but I felt that it was very unorganized in writing out what happened and very repetitive. The timeline was discombobulated and many parts were reiterated.
As a parent myself, I really feel awful for this family. However, the book itself could use more editing to make it flow better. ( )

This book is a memoir of a mother's experience losing her daughter to kidnappers, then discovering that her daughter was abducted not just by a criminal but by a foreign government. It's translated from Japanese, and unfortunately, it does read that way; the phrasing and word-choices are somewhat dry and resemble the speech of a Japanese interpreter. It's sad that the English isn't more natural, because the story is touching and the emotion is heart-felt. One shouldn't read this book expecting a true-crime-style retelling of events; Sakie Yokota most likely doesn't know all the details and is not in a position to tell that part of the story. Some reviewers say this book seemed like mere catharsis, but to me it felt like a plea to the public of the whole world to rally behind the parents and siblings of people abducted and carried away by a foreign government, an entity too powerful for individuals to fight against. The author's loving descriptions of her daughter's childhood and good nature are an attempt to make the story personal, so that we all feel like we know Megumi, and will hopefully give support and encourage our governments to do something to help. Yokota's frustration at her own government's lack of initiative is palpable, but I'm not surprised to learn that the cries of a desperate mother go unheeded by a modern democracy. It seems the most common foreign policy for governments today is to maintain equilibrium at all costs.

The only problem I had with the book is that it contains pictures of a person presumed to be Megumi, and pictures of another person presumed to be Megumi's child, but the text was written before the documents were produced and there is no addendum to explain them.

As an aside, I found it eerie that while Megumi's whereabouts were still completely unknown to her parents, a rumor went around that she had been hospitalized for a mental breakdown. In fact, her parents eventually learned that Megumi did suffer a mental breakdown in North Korea. The author doesn't spend much time on this strange piece of information, but I want to know how this rumor started. Was someone in Niigata in contact with the abductors or the North Korean government? Did someone, possibly even a neighbor or acquaintance, know the secret of Megumi's disappearance all along? We will probably never know.

I'm giving this book four stars in spite of the lackluster translation because I believe this is a story everyone should be aware of, and I can't believe so little has been done thus far to right these wrongs. ( )

North Korea kidnapped my daughter is the well-written, and well-documented story of a young Japanese school girl who goes missing on her way home from school one day. Her whereabouts remained a mystery for twenty years, with tight lipped rumours offering little hope of finding young Megumi.

More significant than the events that led up to her disappearance and the reasons it happened in the first place, is the heart wrenching story of how her family dealt with her disappearance while searching for the answers that would lead to the recovery of Megumi. Her mother, Sakie Yokota quickly became her greatest supporter and details her efforts, hope, faith, and painful struggle that she has endured since 1977.

The political reasons Megumi was kidnapped are explained briefly. The purpose of her kidnapping was so that Megumi, and thirteen other suspected abductees, could train North Korean operatives to behave, talk, and otherwise fit in Japanese society undetected. The tragedy of this is that a young girl, who excelled in academics and sports, had a bright future ahead of her in Japan. In one fateful moment, her dreams were stolen from her one afternoon in 1977.

Since then, the family still does not have closure, but they have found more answers and have never given up hope of reuniting with their daughter.

This is a short read of only 137 pages. If you've ever pondered what parents of missing children go through on a year to year basis, this book will provide insight into one family's experience with the unthinkable. ( )

This is one of those books that one feels bad giving a negative review to because of the obvious emotion behind it; unfortunately, it just wasn't a very well-done book. Other reviewers have mentioned that it really seems much more like a cathartic exercise for a grieving mother whose daughter disappeared and whose fate was never really resolved. The author spends a lot of time reminiscing about her daughter and very little time talking about the investigation/discovery that her daughter might be alive in North Korea. This is fine, I guess, but not at all what I expected.

Like other reviewers, I would have appreciated a lot more in the way of context - the timeline at the end of the book simply doesn't do it. This could be a fascinating book if it delved more deeply into why. Why did North Korea seem to make a practice of kidnapping Japanese and South Korean citizens? Why does it seem like the Japanese government has neglected these families and not pressed more vigorously for information about their kidnapped citizens? Also, I thought it would have been interesting to learn about the abductees lives once they were in North Korea, but I realize this information is probably extremely hard to come by. Like others, I was confused by the brief mentions and photographs of a husband and daughter of the author's kidnapped child. Did they ever meet? How did the alleged granddaughter come to have a picture of her grandparents?

In the end, I was left with feelings of great sympathy for this family, but a lot of questions about why this had happened in the first place. ( )

I remember hearing about this story while watching NHK a few years ago. It's like something out of a spy novel, and very strange.
However, as interesting and sad as the story is, this book has some serious flaws. It's very cyclical; the author repeats herself in nearly every chapter. The writing is harsh and the emotion seems forced (though I don't know whether this is merely a product of the translation). ( )