Tokyo ( CNN ) Fighting back tears , Junko Ishido stood before dozens of television cameras , just hours before an apparent ISIS deadline to execute her son , Kenji Goto -- one of two Japanese hostages who appeared in a shocking propaganda video days before . One of the first statements she made , before making a direct plea to ISIS to spare her son 's life , was an apology to the Japanese people . `` Thank you for your great kindness and I apologize for the tremendous inconvenience and trouble that my son has caused , '' she said . The plea came just before a 72-hour deadline for a $ 200 million ransom set in the video was due to expire . The Japanese government appears not to have given into the demand , and a day later , her son appeared again , this time holding a photo that purported to show the decapitated body of his compatriot , Haruna Yukawa . Now , the jihadist group is demanding the release of Sajida al-Rishawi , a female terrorist being held in Jordan , in exchange for Goto 's life . Ishido 's public apology is understandable in the context of Japanese society , says Jeff Kingston , director of Asian Studies at Temple University 's Tokyo campus . `` In Japan when you inconvenience people , it 's important to respect them and ask for forgiveness , '' Kingston says . Ishido conveyed several times how badly she feels about her son 's capture causing trouble for the Japanese government and alarm for its people . To her , it does n't matter that her son was likely trying to rescue his friend and fellow hostage Haruna Yukawa . It does n't matter than he has been praised by friends , colleagues , and strangers for reporting sensitively from war zones like Syria with strong , respectful determination . If she were to say such things publicly in Japan , she could be perceived as a selfish individual who touts the righteousness of her son . Because of this , Ishido -- a desperate mother , with a son in imminent danger of brutal murder at the hands of a militant jihadist group -- apologized to her country `` from the bottom of my heart . '' And then begged for help . `` I plead to the Japanese government to save Kenji 's life , '' Ishido said . `` To all members of ISIS , Kenji is not the enemy of ISIS . Please release him '' Kingston says public sympathy for the two hostages is mixed , partly because of their vastly different backgrounds . `` There 's a distinction in the public between Goto and Yukawa , '' Kingston told CNN , ahead of the news of Yukawa 's apparent murder . `` There is a great deal of respect for the journalist ( Goto ) and what he 's done and his experience . Yukawa is looked at as a naïve adventurer who put himself in harm 's way . So many are asking why should it be the government and the taxpayer 's problem . '' In 2004 , three young Japanese hostages were released by militants in Iraq . Instead of being welcomed home , they were shunned for `` causing trouble '' for Japan . The former hostages , including one who was in Iraq helping children before her capture , were even billed by the government for their airfare . `` They got the frostiest unwelcome you can imagine . It was essentially government-encouraged bullying , '' Kingston says -- adding the trauma of their return was in some ways worse than their capture . In the previous hostage crisis , under Japan 's former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during the Iraq war , language like `` self responsibility '' and `` go at your own risk '' was engraved into the Japanese psyche . For most Japanese citizens , areas of the Middle East ravaged by conflict are perceived as distant , dangerous places -- the opposite of the safety and calm that permeates Japanese society . Many in Japan do n't understand why anyone would leave the island nation and travel to such hostile regions , where they face potential capture by terror groups like ISIS . Therefore , many find it difficult to sympathize with those who choose to go . Goto has received more sympathy because the Japanese media has widely reported on his commitment to telling the stories of suffering women and children . According to his own online posts , Yukawa was a troubled man , and as such he has received far less sympathy back home in Japan . He lost his wife to cancer , and then his home and business to bankruptcy . At one point , he attempted suicide and took a traditionally female name . `` On the outside I look normal , '' he wrote in one post . `` But inside I 'm mentally ill. '' It seems he went to the Middle East looking for a fresh start and wanted to be a private security contractor -- even though he had no experience . `` He 's seen as irresponsible , '' Kingston says . Kingston adds this latest incident has the potential to change the way Japanese society feels about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's approach of `` proactive pacifism . '' The ISIS video was released just two days after Abe was in the Middle East pledging $ 200 million in humanitarian aid to the coalition against ISIS -- a commitment the Japanese government insists it will honor , no matter what happens to the hostages . However the public might feel about the two men who they watched kneel in the desert on their computers and TV screens , there is no doubt that the sight of their countrymen enduring capture at the hands of ISIS has brought the situation in Iraq and Syria into sharp relief . `` Islamic extremism was something you watched on TV that happened to other people , '' Kingston says . `` And now it 's happening to the Japanese . ''
Hostage Kenji Goto 's mother 's decision to apologize for inconvenience caused by her son not unusual in Japan . Many Japanese people have made a distinction between Goto and fellow hostage Haruna Yukawa . Previous hostages have been treated with indifference upon their return home to Japan .