Crime Jun. 30, 2008 - 10:58AM JST ( 2 )

TOKYO —

A 45-year-old ramen restaurant owner was found dead inside his restaurant on Saturday in Higashi-Murayama City, Tokyo. The victim had been stabbed and beaten, police said Sunday.

Toshiyuki Higashiyama, 45, who was born in China and obtained Japanese nationality in 1997, was found dead inside the restaurant around 3 a.m. by a Chinese worker who lived together with the victim on the second floor of the restaurant building, when he came down to go to the toilet. 

According to police investigations, money left in the restaurant and his room was not stolen. Two Chinese staff live together with the victim on the second floor. The two told police that Higashiyama closed the restaurant around midnight and was in his office alone.

The two Chinese employees have been arrested for overstaying their visas.