Shosei Koda

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Shosei Koda (Japanese: 香田証生, Kōda Shōsei; November 29, 1979 – November 3, 2004) was a Japanese citizen who was kidnapped and later beheaded in Iraq on November 3, 2004 while touring the country.

His parents were members of the United Church of Christ.^[1]

The captors demanded that the Japanese government withdraw its forces from Iraq; the Japanese government refused. His captors had connections to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.^{[citation needed]}

He stated that he entered Iraq on October 19, 2004 because that "he wanted to know what is happening there," according to Kyodo News.

In his execution video, his three captors stand while Koda sits on the American flag. Koda has his hands tied behind his back and is blindfolded while a captor, behind him, reads a speech which lasts for two minutes and ten seconds. After that, the captors place him on the ground and hold him down as they begin to behead him.

Throughout the beheading, the captors chant, "Allāhu Akbar," which is a common Arabic religious expression meaning "God is Great".

The video ends with shots of Koda's blood-covered, severed head on top of his body and a few seconds of shots with the banner of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. His headless body was placed on top of a blood-soaked American flag.