(CNN)Kenji Goto had every reason to stay home in Japan. A successful career. An adoring mother. A loving wife. A pair of young daughters, one of them just 3-weeks old. Yet, in his mind, he had to go into war-torn Syria. The experienced journalist explained why in a video shot in October from southern Turkey. He felt compelled to tell the stories of war in all its trauma, complexity and humanity. "Syrian people (have been) suffering for three years and a half. It's enough," the 47-year-old Goto explained. "So I would like to get the story of what ISIS wants to do."
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Kenji Goto's mother says she doesn't want her tears to spawn a "chain of hatred"
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Journalist crossed into ISIS-controlled Syria to cover what's happening there
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ISIS captured him, and a purported video from the group threatened his life
The fact the two Japanese men's paths had crossed again became public January 20 in an @placeholder video posted to social media.