The Japanese public has reacted similarly to a new video released by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) showing Mr Goto's execution, with people stunned at his brutal death.
"People are shocked at the terrifyingly brutal way in which he died," said Ken Kato, a Tokyo-based businessman. "I cannot understand why these people would do a thing like this; I cannot believe it is the true way of the Islamic faith.
"I feel that doing this to Japanese nationals will prove to be counterproductive and even though Japan has not been involved militarily in the Middle East, Isil has just made itself a new enemy," he said.
"People are angry; the money that Japan has until now pledged to the region has been for humanitarian assistance, to help refugees and to rebuild schools and hospitals," he said. "Why would they respond in this way?"
Online commentators were similarly outraged at the conclusion to a crisis that has transfixed the nation for nearly two weeks, with Mirai Hayashi commenting on the JapanToday web site, "Despicable and truly sad".
Another poster said, "May he rest in peace and [I]pray that his family, especially his mother, find a way to deal with their grief. No parent deserves to lose a child, especially in such a cold-blooded and public manner."
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, earlier vowed that Japan would neither be swayed in its foreign policy towards the Middle East nor bow to the demands of terrorists.
"I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts," Mr Abe told reporters in Tokyo shortly after Isil released the video depicting Mr Goto's death.
"We will never forgive terrorists," he said. "We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes."
Japanese authorities have been working with governments in the Middle East and around the world, as well as with local religious and tribal leaders, in an attempt to secure the release of Mr Goto after the execution of another Japanese national, Haruna Yukawa, on January 17.
There appeared to be reasons for optimism earlier in the week after Jordanian authorities indicated a willingness to release Sajida al-Rishawi in return for Mr. Goto and Muath al-Kasaesbeh, a Jordanian pilot. Al-Rishawi is on death row in Jordan after being convicted of involvement in a suicide bomb attack in Amman in 2005 that killed more than 50 people.
A deadline for Al-Rishawi's release at sunset on Thursday passed without any new developments.
"I am at a loss for words thinking about the pain that Mr Goto's family must feel," Mr Abe said. "The government has been working with the utmost efforts on the issue – I deeply regret that this is the result."
He added that Japan now intends to expand aid to programmes designed to combat terrorism.
Tokyo sought to play up the fact that it has not committed military assets to the region in an attempt to win Mr Goto's freedom, but that has failed to save Japan from being categorised by the extremists as an active opponent of Isil, alongside Britain and the United States.
The Defence Ministry has ordered all Japanese military personnel based overseas to heighten their vigilance, while the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo has issued a similar call to tourists and businesspeople in foreign countries.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1LyipvD
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