Fujian teacher latest woman to go missing while visiting Japan

A Chinese man asked the Consulate General of China in Sapporo, Japan on Tuesday night to help find his daughter, saying she went missing in the city, the consulate said.

The consulate said it has started emergency procedures to find Wei Qiujie, 27, asking Sapporo police to spare no effort in investigating and searching for the woman. It said it is working with authorities in China to help Wei's family make arrangements to quickly go to Japan.

Wei, a teacher at an elementary school in Shaowu, Fujian province, arrived in Sapporo by herself on July 18 for a sightseeing tour of Hokkaido and was expected to return to China this past Tuesday.

Leaving her luggage behind, she left the inn where she stayed in Sapporo on Saturday and did not return, Chongqing News quoted Wei's father as saying. The inn was said to have called local police on Sunday.

In an interview with China's online news site The Paper, the Consulate General of China in Sapporo said it has had close communication with Wei's parents and is closely monitoring the situation.

Wei's friends have been placing posts about her disappearance on Chinese social media sites such as WeChat and Sino Weibo in an attempt to find her.

Lu Huiting, a close friend of Wei, said Wei had been in contact with her family at 4 pm on Saturday. She gave a thumbs-up on Sunday to a birthday post by Singaporean singer-songwriter Stefanie Sun on Sino Weibo.

This is not the first disappearance of a Chinese national in Japan in recent weeks. Two Chinese sisters - Chen Baolan, 25, and Chen Baozhen, 22 - were found slain in Yokohama early this month after disappearing earlier. Their bodies were found in suitcases in a mountainous area in Hadano, Kanagawa prefecture, on July 14. They also were from Fujian province.

Tatsuya Iwasaki, 39, a resident of Yokohama, has been arrested and charged with dumping the two Chinese women's bodies.

Iwasaki was a customer at the bar where Chen Baolan worked. During questioning, he reportedly said he was her former boyfriend.

Japanese police are investigating what role Iwasaki may have played in the women's deaths.

On July 15, the Chinese embassy in Japan issued a warning urging Chinese in Japan to be aware of their surroundings and to protect themselves.

It advised that they don't go to the out-of-the-way places by themselves to protect against muggings; don't hitch rides in strangers' cars; don't give strangers a ride; don't have dealings with those who have unknown backgrounds; don't have a date alone with a stranger; and don't give strangers personal information.

caihong@chinadaily.com.cn