Parents, fiancé not giving up on Yamada sisters

Hideki Yamada, second right, and his wife Kozue join Kenichi Ichikawa, the fiancée of their daughter Chinatsu, and their friends at the finish line of last Saturday’s Saipan Marathon at the American Memorial Park. (Jon Perez)

A little over 10:30am and amidst the sweltering heat of the sun—that reached as high as 91°F —Hideki and Kozue Yamada joined Kenichi Ichikawa, their younger daughter Chinatsu’s fiancée, as he crossed the finish line of last Saturday’s Saipan Marathon at the American Memorial Park

Ichikawa ran the 50-kilometer course, while Hideki and another friend conquered the 42K full marathon. Kozue ran the shorter 10K. All of them, including other companions who were waiting for them at the finish line, wore T-shirts that showed the faces of Yamada sisters—Natsuki and Chinatsu—in front and the words “Never Give Up.”

The Yamada couple had already finished running their respective races, but chose to join Ichikawa and another friend in the final kilometer heading toward the finish line as a show of unity in their hopes of finding closure on the mysterious disappearance of their daughters.

“We just want to keep the community aware of our situation that our daughters remain missing, that’s why we decided to wear this shirts to show everyone that we’re not giving up,” an emotional Hideki told Saipan Tribune after they crossed the finish line.

Ichikawa, for most of the interview, kept touching the photo of his fiancée from a banner hanging a few meters from the finish line.

“We are asking the entire community’s help for any information that they could give on their whereabouts. Maybe, they are locked up somewhere or trapped in an island, we still don’t know. We are making a plea to anybody who knows something.”

The elder Yamada, whose family operates an apple orchard in Nagano prefecture, said the Department of Public Safety still has no new information the last time they visited Saipan early this year.

The Yamadas and Ichikawa were on Saipan in January this year to meet with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and DPS officials. “There’s still nothing new. They gave us no new information,” said Hideki.

Aside from the T-shirts and banners, the Yamadas and their friends had printed flyers that they placed in schools, gas stations, hotels, and at Himawari Restaurant in Garapan with contact information of the person they could get in touch with regarding the missing sisters.

“We will keep coming back here every two to three months to get updates. We are still hopeful and we remain optimistic,” added Hideki.

The Japanese Consulate in the CNMI and the Japanese Society of Saipan are also helping the Yamada couple in their crusade of finding Natsuke and Chinatsu.

For any information about the missing sisters, call Junichi Kitagawa of the Japanese Society at 483-6421 or email her at junichi_kitagawa@fiestasaipan.com or call DPS or the CNMI Crime Stoppers at 2347272.