TOKYO (TR) – A male customer at a soapland bathhouse in Taito Ward is believed to have fatally stabbed a masseuse before attempting suicide, police said on Friday, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (May 6).
At around 11:20 a.m., an employee at soapland Yuzuki, located in the Yoshiwara red-light district, alerted emergency services. “A woman was stabbed by a customer,” the caller said.
According to the Asakusa Police Station, personnel arriving at the scene found the woman, aged in her 30s, collapsed and bleeding in the bath of a room.
The woman was transported to a hospital. However, she was confirmed dead about 90 minutes later.
The woman suffered wounds to the left side of her neck and the right side of her abdomen, which extended to her internal organs. A survival knife was found at the side of the bed, police said.
The customer was found in a corridor with what appeared to be a self-inflicted knife wound to the abdomen. He was transported to a hospital. Police plan to question him on suspicion of murder after he recovers.
Before the incident, the customer entered the room with the woman. When he failed to emerge, a staff member made the discovery.
This is not the first killing at Yutsuki. In 2003, a male customer used a necktie to strangle a masseuse.