One is a self-proclaimed military consultant who sought a new life in conflict zones after his wife died of cancer.
The other is a journalist who risked everything to highlight the horrors of war.
Today, they were paraded together in the most terrifying of circumstances after being threatened with execution by the Islamic State.
Japanese nationals Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa have appeared in the latest ISIS video in which the terror group warns they will be beheaded unless their government pays a $200m ransom.
It comes two days after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged the same amount in non-military support for countries fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
The video, identified as being made by the group's al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, mirrored other hostage threats it has made.
The clip, posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, featured the British-accented militant widely known as 'Jihadi John' who appeared in the beheading videos of four Western hostages last year.
Ransom: A video purportedly from ISIS shows Japanese hostages Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa in orange jumpsuits with a British-accented jihadi demanding $200 million in exchange for their lives
Yukawa is a 42-year-old widower who reportedly has a history of attempted suicide and self-mutilation after his military goods business went bankrupt and his wife died of cancer
In the line of fire: Footage on Kenji Goto Jogo's last Twitter post in October shows him talking in front of the Syrian city of Kobani (above), which has been under siege from ISIS fighters for months
Yukawa is a 42-year-old widower who reportedly has a history of attempted suicide and self-mutilation after his military goods business went bankrupt and his wife died of cancer.
He even considered cutting off his genitals because of his perceived failures in life, deciding that he would instead 'live as a woman and leave the rest to destiny'.
He travelled to Iraq and Syria last year after telling friends and family that he thought it represented a last chance to turn his life around.
Pictures on his Facebook page show him in Iraq and Syria in July.
One video on his page showed him test-firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle with the caption: 'Syria war in Aleppo 2014.'
In his last blog post, he says: 'I cannot identify the destination. But the next one could be the most dangerous.'
He added: 'I hope to film my fighting scenes during an upcoming visit.'
He came to widespread attention in Japan when he appeared in footage posted last August in which he was shown being roughly interrogated by his captors.
Military company operator Haruna Yukawa, who has reportedly been taken hostage by ISIS
On the frontline: One video on Haruna Yukawa's Facebook page shows him test-firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle with the caption: 'Syria war in Aleppo 2014'
Yukawa switches the AK-47 from single-shot to automatic. In his last blog post, Yukawa says: 'I cannot identify the destination. But the next one could be the most dangerous'
Footage released in August last year purportedly shows Yukawa bloodied and bruised after being captured by ISIS sympathisers while travelling with the Free Syria Army in northern Aleppo
Yukawa's father, Shoichi Yukawa, has declined to comment, saying he was overwhelmed by the news reports of capture by ISIS.
Goto is a freelance journalist, born in 1967, who set up a video production company, named Independent Press in Tokyo in 1996, feeding video documentaries on the Middle East and other regions to Japanese television networks, including public broadcaster NHK.
He had been out of contact since late October after telling family that he intended to return to Japan, NHK reported.
Goto met Yukawa last year and helped him travel to Iraq in June, he told Reuters in August.
Footage on his last Twitter post in October shows him talking in front of the Syrian city of Kobani, which has been under siege from ISIS fighters for several months.
n early November, his wife received e-mail demands for about one billion yen ($8.5 million) in ransom from a person claiming to be an Islamic State group member, Fuji TV said.
The e-mailed threats were later confirmed to have come from a sender implicated in the killing of U.S. journalist Foley, Fuji TV said.
In the latest ISIS video, the militant directly addresses Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is currently now on a six-day visit to the Middle East.
Brandishing a knife and dressed all in black, he says: 'To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,000 and 500 kilometres (5,280 miles) from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade.
'You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children - to destroy the homes of the Muslims.
'So the life of this (points knife at Kenji Goto Jogo) Japanese citizen will cost you $100million.
'And in an attempt to stop the expansion of the Islamic State, you also donated another $100million to train the mujahideen against the mujahideen.
'And so the life of this (points knife at Haruna Yukawa) Japanese citizen will cost you another $100million.
'And to the Japanese public: Just as your government has made the foolish decision to pay $200million to fight the Islamic State, you now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200million to save the lives of your citizens.
'Otherwise, this knife will become your nightmare.'
Mr Abe said Japan would not bow to 'terrorism' and pledged to honour his promise of aid.
'I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released,' he told a news conference in Jerusalem.
'The international community will not give in to terrorism and we have to make sure that we work together.'
Abe said the aid he had promised in Cairo on Saturday was to help the displaced and those made homeless by the conflict in Iraq and Syria.
'This posture will not change at all,' he said.
He was to fly home after a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to take charge of the crisis, cutting short the rest of his tour.
Speaking in Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to say whether Japan would pay the ransom.
'If true, the act of threat in exchange of people's lives is unforgivable and we feel strong indignation,' Suga told journalists.
'We will make our utmost effort to win their release as soon as possible.'
The involvement of Japanese nationals as combatants in foreign conflicts is limited, although the country's extensive media is usually well-represented in hotspots.
n 2004, Japanese tourist Shosei Koda was among a series of foreign hostages beheaded by Al Qaeda in Iraq in grisly videotaped executions.
Japan has been relatively isolated from the Islamist violence that has hit other developed countries, having tended to stay away from US-led military interventions.
He had ignored government advice to travel to the country in the midst of the bloody insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of the previous year.
Threats: The same British-accented jihadi that appeared in James Foley's beheading made the threat to Abe
In early 2013, Japan was rocked when militants overran a remote gas plant in the Algerian desert.
The four-day ordeal that involved hundreds of hostages ended when Algerian commandos stormed the plant.
Ten Japanese died, giving the country the single biggest body count.
U.S. officials have asked that the woman not be identified out of fears for her safety.
The British Foreign Office said it was also investigating the latest video.
A spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of the video and we are studying the content.'
Tuesday's video marks the first time the Islamic State group specifically has demanded cash for hostages.
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