Advertisement

Atsumi Yoshikubo’s suspected suicide in N.W.T. reminds us of North's 'quiet epidemic'

Atsumi Yoshikubo’s suspected suicide in N.W.T. reminds us of North's 'quiet epidemic'

A decision by investigators in Yellowknife, N.W.T., to call of the search for a missing Japanese tourist and declare her disappearance had been intentional has brought attention to the region’s “quiet epidemic.”

While the disappearance and suspected death of Atsumi Yoshikubo is not connected to the state of Canada’s North, with new reports suggesting she may have been considering suicide before leaving Japan on vacation last month, it is a reminder that our Northern territories suffer Canada’s highest suicide rates.

Yoshikubo was last seen on October 22 and reported missing five days later after she failed to check out of her hotel room.

After a thorough search that was monitored by the Japanese consulate and Yoshikubo’s family back home, the RCMP announced that they have come to suspect her disappearance was not an accident.

The latest update from RCMP in Northwest Territories states:

A thorough Police investigation has determined that Yoshikubo is now considered to be a missing person, presumed dead. There is no evidence of foul play.

RCMP investigation has determined that Atsumi Yoshikubo arrived in Yellowknife with a plan to go into the wilderness alone and become a missing person. Investigation also revealed that Yoshikubo took steps to avoid being found.

RCMP has since turned the matter over to the Office of the Chief Coroner of the Northwest Territories, which will conduct a thorough Coroner’s Act investigation.

The news is hard to accept, specifically for her family back home. According to CBC News, Yoshikubo’s brother told two Japanese television programs that the foreign ministry told the family Yoshikubo had mailed a suicide letter to a friend. Still, Kenji Yoshikuba questions why his sister bought a return ticket if she didn’t plan on coming home.

“I’m sure that she’ll come back alive. Definitely come back alive,” Kenji said in an interview translated for CBC News.

The search for Yoshikubo began in earnest on October 27, with Yellowknife RCMP released a missing persons alert, offering a photograph and general description of the Japanese visitor, noting she was last seen wearing a pink coat, pink hat, black pants and white shoes.

Her disappearance was reported that day by staff at the Explorer Hotel when she failed to check out. Yoshikubo, 45, was last seen walking along a highway toward Jackfish Lake five days earlier.

Yoshikubo had been visiting from Japan, but she failed to board her scheduled flight home on October 26. Yellowknife Search and Rescue launched an extensive search of the wooded area outside the city, popular hiking areas and tourist zones.

That search has since been called off.

Little has been released about what has led police to believe Yoshikubo intended to disappear.

Investigators say there has been no indication of foul play, and have said her hotel room was left in a state that seemed to suggest she intended to return. Her possessions had been left in the room, though police would not say what that entailed.

Details of her personal life were not directly confirmed, though investigators confirmed they had been in contact with the Japanese consulate.

Northwest Territories tourism officials have said the attention brought on by Yoshikubo’s disappearance could have a negative impact on the number of visitors the territory gets from Japan. But it also highlights an issue the region has long faced.

Northwest Territories has among the highest rates of suicide in Canada. According to territory statistics, there were seven suicides across the territory in 2009, preceded by 10 in 2008 and nine in 2007.

But consider its small population – little more than 40,000 in 2011 – the suicide rate is alarming. Statistics Canada notes that Northwest Territories has a suicide rate of 18.66 per 100,000 population, second only to the alarmingly mark of 71.00 seen in Nunavut.

The Canadian average hovers just above 10. Suicide has been referred to as the North’s “quiet epidemic”

A 2004 report from Northwest Territories Health and Social Services, suicide was considered the principal cause of injury deaths in the region, accounting for 24 per cent of injury-related deaths.

But it is not visitors and tourists that are behind the heightened rate of suicide. The issue appears to most strongly impact aboriginal communities across Canada, including the territories.

The rate of suicide in the Northwest Territories during the 1980s prompted the creation of the Northwest Territories Suicide Prevention Training program, intent on improving and spreading access to community counselling and strategies.

Last year, the Yellowknife hospital hired an additional psychiatrist to help handle the prevalence of mental health issues coming forward.

The increased focus on mental health and suicide prevention has helped in recent years. But the rate remains high and the community suffers from the stigma.

If it is true that Yoshikubo travelled to Northwest Territories with the intention of ending her life, it shouldn’t scare other tourists away. But it should highlight an issue that has long existed in Canada’s North, and bring with it more focus on addressing it.