Noriko Tsujide

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Mie Prefectural Police Ise Police (STATION)

Missing From:

Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan

Summary:

Noriko Tsujide, a journalist age 24, left her workplace in Ise City, Mie Prefecture on November 24, 1998, and never returned home. Mie Prefectural Police are continuing their investigation, believing that she was involved in a crime. The case remains unsolved after more than 27 years.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On November 24, 1998, journalist Noriko Tsujide left the Ise City office of publisher Ise Bunkasha after completing her work, which included reviewing past interviews and checking photos, at just after 11 p.m. However, she never returned home. The next day, Tsujide's navy blue Nissan March was found in the parking lot of an insurance company, located about one kilometer from Ise Bunkasha. The doors were locked, there was no one inside and there were no signs of any break-in. Investigators noted that the driver's seat had been slid back further than when Tsujide would have driven it, a cigarette butt was on the floor despite the fact that she was not a smoker, and the stereo system had been shut off. On the day Tsujide's disappearance was discovered, her mother, Michiyo, filed a missing person report with Ise Police Station. However, the police did not act immediately. Tsujide's mobile phone call history was seized on Christmas Eve, one month after the disappearance. The person of interest's call history was seized after New Year's Day. It was only at that point that it was discovered that the two had been in contact. During questioning, the man admitted to calling Tsujide and meeting her in a parking lot at around 11:00 p.m. on November 24. He stated: "Tsujide got in my car and we started talking, and the mood got heated, so we had sex in the car. After that, we talked a little and parted ways in the parking lot. I don't know what happened after that." Such a claim lacked credibility, according to a former investigator on the case.

Additional Details:

As a child, Tsujide hoped to become a journalist. After graduating from university, she got a job at a local publishing company, Ise Bunkasha. By November 24, 1998, a year and a half had passed since she took up the job. In Tsujide's family home in Tsu City, a wall is decorated with photos of the various places in Asia she visited while at Ritsumeikan University. In Bangladesh, Myanmar or China, Tsujide aimed her SLR lens at each country's local people and rural landscapes she encountered during her travels. The man was originally introduced to Tsujide by the Owase City Hall. At the time, Mie Prefecture was promoting the area through large-scale events such as the "Higashi Kishu Experience Project." Tsujide, then an editor and reporter for the magazine Ise-Shima, was looking for a reporter with connections in Higashi Kishu. Tsujide came to trust the man, who taught at nature events for children and treated women in a gentlemanly manner. The Ise Police Station took the man in for voluntary questioning on January 26, 1999. They interrogated him until February 3. This man was later arrested on suspicion of confinement in another case, but was found not guilty in this case. Before the verdict was handed down, the man declared that he would tell everything if he was found not guilty, but when the verdict came down to acquittal, he wiped his mouth. Although Mie Prefectural Police have questioned some 700 people, they said they have not obtained any solid leads or eyewitness information. According to the network, Mie police have received 107 tips to date. However, no useful information has yet been obtained. The Mie Prefecture police considered Tsujide to be a possibility of being kidnapped by North Korea and added her to the list of missing Japanese abducted by North Korea, but there is no specific basis for this.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 07, 2026