TOKYO: Japan isn't commenting on a reported ransom demand for a Japanese freelance journalist who has been missing since summer in Syria. A government spokesman said Thursday that Japan is doing its utmost to deal with the situation, but wouldn't go into specifics. The France-based nonprofit group Reporters Without Borders says it has learned that those holding journalist Jumpei Yasuda have started a countdown for a ransom payment, and are threatening to kill him or sell him to another militant group.