With the blessing of her parents, the publishing house Futabasha has started offering a manga cartoon series featuring the ordeal of Megumi Yokota, the junior high school student abducted to North Korea in 1977 at age 13.

The ``Manga Akushon'' (Comic Action) publication features nine episodes under the title ``Megumi.'' The story was written and supervised by Megumi's parents, Shigeru, 72, and his wife, Sakie, 68.

In it, the parents explain how much they have suffered since their daughter vanished more than a quarter-century ago.

This is the magazine's second venture to deal with the vexing abduction issue.

The magazine is published on the first and third Tuesday of each month.

The first series, ``Dakkan'' (Rescue), tells the story of another Japanese abductee, Kaoru Hasuike, 47, and how he was eventually repatriated. The story, based on fact, was written and overseen by his brother, Toru, 49.

The cover of the magazine's latest issue, which came out Tuesday, carries a color photograph of Megumi in school uniform standing in front of cherry trees in full blossom just after her entrance to junior high school.

The photograph was originally used for posters distributed by Megumi's parents to locate her after she disappeared.

The first episode of ``Megumi'' mainly deals with two incidents: her abduction on Nov. 15, 1977, and Jan. 21, 1997, when her parents were notified she could be in North Korea.

There is a scene where Megumi, locked up in the hold of a small ship, scratches the wall, crying ``Mommy!''

``What happened to our daughter was like a horrible incident you find in books, but that was what happened to her,'' said her mother, Sakie. ``I would like readers to realize how much she suffered and grieved.''(IHT/Asahi: December 22,2004)