Japanese journalist Yasuda Junpei (44), who was detained in a Syrian militant group, said he was "hell" about the situation at the time of detention.

Yasuda told NHK on his plane to return home, "I was physically and mentally hell," and said he was surprised to see himself accepting the situation.

He said, "I can not control myself more and more every day by thinking that I can not go back today."

"I do not know how the world has changed because I have never been able to go forward for three years," he said. "I am worried about what will happen next and I have no idea what to do next."

A freelance journalist, Yasuda, was released in Syria in June 2015 and was released after three years and four months on the night of the 23rd (Japanese time).

Yasuda's al-Qaeda affiliate, Alunsura Front, has kidnapped Yasuda.

In the video that was released in July of last year, he said in Japanese, "My name is Umar, I am Korean."

The reason he referred to himself as a Korean is not yet known.

Having stayed in Turkey after his release, he will arrive in Japan this evening through Istanbul.

While Yasuda's detention has long been a criticism of the Japanese government's passive attitude, the Japanese government has emphasized that it has played an active role in releasing the Japanese government since its release.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Sugaya Yoshihide emphasized the government's efforts to "mobilize Qatar and Turkey centering on the International Terror Information Collection Unit (CTUJ), which is headed by the Prime Minister.

In December 2015, after the death of 10 Argentine hostages in Japan and the killing of Japanese nationals by the Islamic nation (IS), CTUJ created the 90th person in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Defense.

The organization has also received information that a week before Yasuda's release, he might be released.

A senior official of the Japanese government told the Asahi Shimbun, "There are still members of CTUJ in some embassies in the Middle East. (Yasuda's release is the result.)"

The Yomiuri Shimbun said the government had established a "trust relationship with the upper echelons of each country."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his gratitude to the President of the Republic of Turkey yesterday for his telephone conversation with Turkish President Lefkot Taif Eduard and Tamin Bin Hamad al-Thani, the Qatari ruler (Emir), and he showed that his release was a diplomatic effort. I did.

Japanese media also said that Abe, when he visited New York in September, made a direct request to President Eduard for the release of Yasuda, and emphasized the importance of relations with Qatar, where the Japanese government had succeeded in brokering a hostage release. We emphasize our efforts.

However, there is a lot of eye to seeing that Yasuda's release would have affected the payment of hostage ransom to kidnapped armed groups rather than diplomatic efforts.

A Syrian human rights watchdog, a private group, said after the release of Mr. Yasuda, "We have paid the ransom to appeal internationally to the attitude that Qatar has done its best to survive and release the detained journalists."

The ransom paid by Qatar is said to be 300 million yen (about 3 billion won).

Yasuda said that the exact process of release was not revealed, and the Japanese government issued a different voice to the Syrian human rights watchdog, saying that it did not "deal with the payment of ransom".