British teacher who went missing in Japan found dead

The body of a British woman who went missing over a week ago has been found. Alice Hodgkinson, 28, was reported missing in Japan on July 01.

Nottinghamshire police, which has been supporting the family and liaising with officers in Tokyo, said the authorities in Japan discovered Hodgkinson’s body on Wednesday. According to a police statement, there are currently no ‘suspicious circumstances’ surrounding her death.

Alice’s parents, Julie and Steve, as well as her brother, Peter, described the news of her passing as the ‘worst news imaginable’.

Alice was an intelligent, adventurous, confident, caring young woman with a tremendous sense of humour...This was clearly not the outcome we had hoped for. She will be sorely missed and we would ask that our family is left in peace at this difficult time so we can come to terms with what has happened.We would also like to thank all those people, both in the UK and Japan, who have worked so very hard to raise awareness of Alice’s disappearance and provide practical support.

A distressed note

Hodgkinson, from Nottingham, had been living in Yokohama — 20 miles away from Tokyo where she worked as an English teacher— since March last year. She was last seen at work on July 01.

Her father, Steve Hodgkinson, who lives in Nottingham with Peter, said he last heard from Alice via email on 30 June, having previously spoken via video call on 21 June.

This week, police visited Hodgkinson’s Yokohama apartment and had to break down the door to enter. Officers said they had found a note but did not reveal what it said or if it had any connection with her disappearance.

Steve had earlier told the Guardian that his daughter had left the family a note suggesting she may have been distressed.

He said:

I know that a note was left addressed to myself and Peter, my son. I don’t know the exact text in the note but I understand it suggested that she was in a distressed state when she wrote it.

Alice previously taught English in Shanghai before coming back to the UK to study a master’s degree in psychology. After spending a year in Japan, she decided to extend her trip by a further year and planned to travel back to England in March 2022 to complete a PhD.