A signboard urging people to call the police if they have information on the whereabouts of Kaori Nomura, who went missing in 1991 at the age of 8, is seen in Yokohama in early April. | MAI YOSHIKAWA

On a clear April afternoon, I walk 14 minutes from a suburban station in Yokohama, past traffic and construction, into a quiet residential neighborhood. Children wearing randoseru backpacks drift home, passing a signboard that reads: “Help find Kaori.”

At a narrow entryway, I ring the doorbell. An elderly man opens the door.

This is Kaori’s father, Setsuji Nomura. He has lived in this house for decades. It was here 35 years ago that his youngest daughter, Kaori, then 8 years old, walked out the door and never returned.

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