Japanese officials said Saturday that they were continuing efforts to win the release of two Japanese men taken hostage by the Islamic State, even though the militants’ stated deadline for paying an enormous ransom had passed.
Japan seemed to be waiting for a sign from the militants, who had not offered a clear signal of their intentions even after a Friday deadline passed without Japan’s paying a $200 million demand. The hostage crisis began on Tuesday, when a video appeared online showing a masked militant threatening to kill the men, the journalist Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, a wanderer apparently drawn to Syria by war. The video demanded the money be paid within 72 hours.
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Mr. Goto vanished in late October, after reportedly going into Syria to seek the release of Mr. Yukawa, who was captured by Islamic State fighters in August.
