Richard Lloyd Parry, left, reports from Japan on reaction to the Iraq hostage crisis and what its outcome could mean for a country that is trying to engage with the rest of the world.

Can you tell us more about the captives?

Soichiro Koriyama,32, is a freelance press photographer, Nahoko Takato, 34, is a voluntary aid worker and Noriaki Imai is an 18 year-old who just left school last month.

Mr Imai is a very committed idealistic young man. He is the leader of an activist organisation and is researching the effect of depleted uranium shells on civilians. He has been shown on television giving speeches, so he is quite an unusual young man.

How has his family and other Japanese reacted?

His family and friends are beside themselves and they want Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister, to pull out Japan's troops, as the captors have demanded. There have been a few small demonstrations in Tokyo, but they are by the usual anti-war protesters. There is no sign of mass anger.

Will Japan pull out?

There is no chance of that, certainly not by the deadline of tomorrow night. If things were to get worse, ie, mutilation or torture of the captives by the kidnappers, then Mr Koizumi's stance could shift. But at the moment there is no sign of him giving in. The opposition are not using it against him and there is no sign of mass public opposition.

What does this mean for Japan?

Mr Koizumi is the first Japanese Prime Minister to really bring the country out of its post-war pacifist isolationist shell. He is trying to engage with the rest of the world.

This is the first time that a price has been paid by ordinary Japanese. So it's an extremely important, pivotal moment.

If Mr Koizumi survives this, then a threshold will have been crossed. It will become much easier to persuade Japan to engage next time and to weather this kind of crisis.

How does Japan normally react to hostage situations?

Japan has had kidnappings before and its tendency is to pay up. There was a famous case in the early 1970s when members of Japan's Red Army hijacked a Japan Airlines aircraft for ransom.

The Prime Minister of the time famously observed that a single life weighs more than the whole world. The kidnappers took the money and went away.

Japanese governments have been inclined to comply in that way, but Mr Koizumi has signalled very clearly that he won't do that.

Just hours before news of the kidnapping came through he insisted that his determination to see the Self Defence Forces' mission through would not be shaken. He was speaking after his troops – who have a purely humanitarian remit – came under mortar attack for the first time in Iraq.

Is Tokyo getting support from the US?

Japan is a major and important supporter of the US in Iraq. Being the second richest country in the world, its backing is symbolically valuable. Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, arrives here tomorrow on a scheduled visit and is expected to show America's appreciation for Japan's efforts in Iraq.

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