＊Sept. 3 / Mr. Kota SHINOZAKI, a 21 year old Keio University student living in Saitama, Japan, arrived at the Delhi International Airport from Tokyo at 2:00 AM. On the same day, he purchased a package tour from a local travel agent in New Delhi. The tour was supposed to take him to Jaipur and Agra by car, and by train to Varanasi, Gaya, Kolkata, and finally back to Delhi. He departed Delhi on the same day to Jaipur   by car with driver, Mr. Raju.

＊Sept. 5/ They arrived at Agra in the afternoon. They went out to see the Taj Mahal with one Gautam (Mr. Lalta Prasad Gautam), a Japanese speaking guide, who was introduced by the driver. They arrived at the Chanakaya Hotel and Kota checked in at 5:20 PM.

＊Sept. 6/ The driver came to the hotel to pick up Kota in the morning, but he wasn’t there. There was no sign that he had slept on the bed. His belongings had disappeared. According to the hotel records, he checked out. The driver and the hotel did not report his missing neither to the Agra Police nor to the Japanese Embassy.

＊Sept. 24/ Kota was supposed to come back to Japan on this day from India, but he didn’t. Nobody had had any contact from him since he had left for India.

＊Early Oct/ Kota’s air-ticket expired. Kota’s parents contacted the Japanese Embassy and Consulates in India, and then the Consular Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.

＊Oct. 10/ Kota’s parents officially reported Kota’s missing to Saitama city’s Ohmiya Police Station in Japan.

＊Oct. 17/ The Japanese Embassy in New Delhi officially lodged a complaint of Kota’s disappearance with the Chanakyapuri Police Station. The case number is “747/6”.

＊Nov. 1/ The Delhi International Airport Police detected that Kota went missing in Agra on September 5^th. A receptionist of the hotel said to the Police that Kota went out alone around 7:00 PM on the night of Sept 5^th.

＊Nov. 8/ Kota’s mother and Japanese supporters went to Agra and questioned some related persons. This time the receptionist said to them that the driver invited Kota for a sightseeing tour at night and they went out together with another Indian man (probably the guide). The driver denied this statement.

＊Nov. ~/ The investigation was transferred to the Agra Police. To the parents, the search seemed to be at the standstill for a while.

＊Dec. 18/ A Japanese politician handed a letter to Prime Minister Singh during his visit to Japan. In the letter, Kota’s parents requested Indian politicians for their cooperation in this regard.

＊Jan/ Kota’s mother and a supporter visited India. They went to Agra. At the Agra Police Office, they checked pictures of un-identified dead bodies, but found no one that resembled Kota.

＊Mar./ Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of India started investigation of this case. A few weeks later, Kota’s parents were indirectly informed that the searching by CBI all over India had proved in vain.

＊Mar./ A private detective agency in Delhi investigated the case upon the parents’ request. According to their report, the receptionist said again that Kota went out with the driver and another Indian man on the night.

＊Mar./ Kota’s parents and a supporter, Prof. Ohashi, visited India. The mother was informed by Agra Police that a narcotic analysis would be applied to several suspects including the driver, the local guide and ４ hotel staff members (2 receptionists and 2 other employees).

In Lucknow, the parents interviewed politicians and they said they would inform us of the results of the upcoming narcotic analysis as soon as possible.

＊Mar. 31/ The Agra Police took five suspects to a laboratory in Bangalore, but the guide, Gautam (Lalta Prasad Gautam), had absconded from his home prior to the analysis, leaving a letter to his family implying suicide.

＊Apr. 30/ Kota’s parents received unofficial information on results of the narcotic analysis from a reliable source: two persons, the driver, Raju, and the hotel manager went through the test, while the others were absolved due to the results of pre-test interrogation.

1) Raju confessed that he went to a local restaurant with Kota and the guide, Gautam, on the night of Sept. 5^th, and saw Kota and Gautam going out of the restaurant on a cycle rickshaw. This is his last sight of Kota.

2) The hotel manager, confessed that he stole money from Kota’s bag, and he (Sharma) signed on a check out card imitating Kota’s signature.

（This source also said a formal statement might be available within two weeks, but Kota’s family didn’t get any information from Agra Police.

*Oct.6/ Mr. Jyotirmaya Sharma, professor of University of Hyderabad, who was staying in Japan and met Kota’s mother, wrote an editorial in Hindustan Times that Kota’s case should not be hushed up but the investigation should be moved forward on a humanitarian basis.

*Oct.20/A petition of Kota’s parents was handed to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Japan. In the petition, Kota’s family urged him that the Laboratory in Bangalore release results of the narcotic analysis immediately, and the Agra Police should take necessary actions according to the results to find Kota.

*Dec. /An important business person helped parents by sending his letters to important diplomats India to urge the departments concerned for an early solution of this case.

*Jan./ The official report (dated April 25, 2008) of the narcotic analysis was sent to the Japanese Embassy. The report didn’t convey enough information, but we learnt that the person who had stolen Kota's money wasn’t the hotel manager, but a house keeping boy, Barbir Shingh. The family asked the Agra Police through the Japanese Embassy to unveil details of the analyses, but there was no answer.

*Feb.28/ The prime suspect in this missing case, a local guide, Gautam ( Lalta Prasad Gautam), was detained at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh State. One of our acquaintances living in India read the article in an Agra newspaper, and informed us of this big news . This detainment was confirmed by the Japanese Embassy later.

*Mar.~July/We have been asking the Agra Police how the investigation is going and when a narcotic analysis of the prime suspect, Gautam, would be conducted, but we have received no answer.

*July.30/ The general election in India finished. The news that a narcotic analysis completed of Gautam was conveyed to the parents. They were also informed that the official report of the analysis would be sent in two weeks or so, but it has not been received as of September 22^nd.

*Sept.22/ The Long-awaited copy of the Narcotic Analysis report of the local guide, Gautam, was obtainedTo our surprise, Gautam denied that he left a local restaurant with Kota on a rickshaw after dinner on the night of Sep.5, 2006, despite the confessional statement of the driver Raju. So there are clearly contradicting statements, which should be explained through appropriate investigation by the Agra/UP Police immediately.

*Oct.4-10/Kota’s family (Kota’s Mother and sister) are visiting India for the fourth time. Prof. Ohashi accompanies them.