Chinese woman missing in Japan ‘left note wanting fresh start’
Family, however, say it was just a travel note and she had never suggested she was unhappy with her life, according to media reports
A Chinese woman who has gone missing while travelling alone in Japan left a note in her luggage saying she wanted to make a fresh start in life, according to a news website report.
Wei Qiujie, 27, a primary school teacher from Nanping in Fujian province, was due to return home last Tuesday after her week-long trip in Japan, but did not arrive.
She was last in contact with her family on July 22, but her hotel in Sapporo in northern Japan grew concerned after her room was empty but she failed to check out.
The hotel notified the police and her family in Fujian has also contacted the authorities and asked the Chinese consulate general for help. The family also circulated her personal details online appealing for help from internet users.
Wei’s father arrived in Japan last Friday and confirmed a letter police found in her luggage left at the hotel was written by Wei, according to the Shanghai news website Thepaper.cn.
The report said Wei thanked her family for raising her in the letter and said farewell to them. She said she was not satisfied with her life and wanted a fresh start.
Wei’s family, however, denied it was a farewell letter, saying it was just a travel note, according to the article.
The report cited an unidentified friend as saying Wei had never shown any intention of leaving China and starting life elsewhere.
Police have discovered that Wei checked into a hotel at Akan Lake, about 300 km from Sapporo, on the night of July 22, a website operated by the West China City Daily reported.
She left the next morning and a member of staff on a tour boat at the lake said she came on board at 8am, but was not sure where she went afterwards.
The missing woman’s brother, Wei Lin, told the news website that Wei appeared normal before she took the trip to Japan and she loved her job as a teacher.
“My sister admires the work of some Japanese writers, but she is not obsessed with Japanese culture,” he was quoted as saying. “She doesn’t have financial problems. She can’t stay in Japan illegally to work,” he added.
Wei’s father told the website that a search of the lake had yielded nothing and police had expanded their search to the whole of Hokkaido island in northern Japan.