SAN’A, Yemen — A Japanese engineer seized by Yemeni tribesmen seeking to swap him for a prisoner with al-Qaida links was released Monday after a week in captivity.

Takeo Mashimo returned to the capital, San’a, after a day of negotiations between the tribesmen and Yemeni authorities, said Natahiro Yamaguchi, the Japanese Embassy’s deputy chief of mission. Mashimo was in good health and was received by the Japanese ambassador and the governor of San’a, Yamaguchi said.

Mashimo was working on the construction of a school about 12 miles northeast of the capital when he was kidnapped Nov. 15.