Journalists gathered in Tokyo on January 31 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the slaying of their colleague and friend Goto Kenji by Islamic State militants.

Novelist Hirano Keiichiro contributed a message, saying now is the time to look back on the Japanese journalist's efforts to continue reporting on what was actually happening from the most challenging places.

Goto was captured by IS militants while reporting in war-torn Syria.

A video of his beheading was released on February 1, 2015.

Goto is the only Japanese journalist since the end of World War II to be taken hostage and killed while covering danger zones.

Participants of the event included a photojournalist who reported on the sites of Goto's killing and burial three years after his death and a film producer who waged the "I am Kenji" campaign on social media, seeking the release of Goto when he was taken hostage in Syria.

Goto's daughter, who was 13 at the time of her father's death, offered a message in a video shown at the event.

There was also a screening of a short movie created by a video artist using generative AI to depict Goto's message from the future.