haruna yukawa says earlier this year he started a military and security company in tokyo. he went to syria late last month to do some research. a senior member of an opposition group said yukawa wanted to see first hand what was happening there. he was traveling with his group near the northern city of aleppo, but they got separated and members of the group islamic state took yukawa captive. >> translator: the man is our friend and brother, and he's important to us. >> he says he doesn't know where yukawa is or how he's doing. he says members of his group have proposed a prisoner exchange with islamic state, but he says they have not received a response. >>> hotel owners in japan are seeing more and more guests from abroad coming through their doors. more than 10 million foreign visitors arrived last year. the government wants that number doubled by the 2020 tokyo olympics. and with competition heating up, hotel operators are thinking outside the box. >> a dragon poised to leak from -- leap from the ceiling. sumo wrestlers looming over the bed. guests in this hotel are con

a video posted on youtube appears to show yukawa being detained. he's believed to run a private military company. he was in syria doing research. an opposition group leader says they are using a mediator to negotiate with members of the islamic state. he says they're proposing a prisoner swap. he says he's been told yukawa was slightly injured but has received treatment and is in good health. officials at the japanese embassy in neighboring jordan are trying to confirm the facts. >>> ukraine's government says its troops have seized control of the pro-russian stronghold of luhansk. the city is a strategic stronghold in the battle between pro and anti-russian forces. ukraine's national security spokesperson andriy lysenko made the announcement on wednesday. government forces have intensified the offensive against the pro-russian separatists and surrounded the city of luhansk. luhansk is just 20 kilometers from the russian border control of the city would be a major breakthrough for the ukrainian government in putting pressure on russia. but pro-russi

yukawa was slightly injured but has received treatment and is in good health. officials at the japanese embassy in neighboring jordan are trying to confirm the facts. >>> south korean and japanese government officials have argued of late over their views of territory and history. south korea's next ambassador has promised to improve relations. yoo heung-soo is a former lawmaker with close ties to japan. yoo took time to speak with japanese reporters in seoul before starting his new job. he is scheduled to leave for tokyo on saturday. he spent his childhood in kyoto and studied for a year there during university. he served as seoul's secretary general of the korea-japan parliamentarian's union. and during that time he built up an exchange program with politicians. >> translator: relations between south korea and japan are at the worst ever. but they'll get better. as the saying goes after the storm comes the calm. >> yoo said he wants to play a role in establishing relations that are oriented tshdss the future and he said he wants to develop a fraternal relation

. >> he says he doesn't know where yukawa is or how he's doing. he says members of his group have proposed a prisoner exchange with islamic state, but he says they have not received a response. >>> peru's government is auctioning off jewelry from a former intelligence chief. he allegedly bought them with taxpayer's money. vladimir montesinos was a close aide to alberto s fujimori. his 152 items up for auction include gold rings and a diamond encrusted watch. the two-day auction began on monday in lima. peru's government expects to raise about $1 million from the sale. officials say the money will be used to tackle corruption and organized crime in the country. he is serving a 20-year prison sentence for corruption and human rights abuses. allegations surfaced in 2000 that he bribed opposition lawmakers. this led to the fall of his government. >>> things aren't going in the direction they want and ai uchida join us from the business desk. what can you tell us? >> we've seen month after month are more imports than exports, and things weren't so diff