Two kidnapped schoolgirls were found safe Monday after their mother left a ransom of about 400,000 yen at a supermarket in Oita Prefecture earlier in the day, police said Tuesday.
Police said the two girls -- Risa, 11, and Erika Tsuchida, 9 -- were found unharmed Monday afternoon after they called their home in the town of Hiji from an employee pension recreation center about 6 km from the store.
The girls were daughters of company employee Toshiro Tsuchida, 30, of Hinode, Oita Prefecture.
Their 32-year-old mother, Kazumi, told police she received a call on her mobile phone at around 2 p.m. from a woman who said she had kidnapped the girls and ordered her to leave a ransom of 1 million yen at the supermarket near her house, police said.