Flies, foul smell lead to body of Japanese man

STA. ROSA, Laguna — Six days after resigning as manager of a Japanese restaurant here, a Japanese national was found dead yesterday, his body already decomposing, inside his rented house.

The remains of Toshio Saito, 45, former manager of the Ramen Ippon Yari Japanese Restaurant at the Rustan’s Supermarket in Barangay Don Jose, were discovered after the foul smell and flies swarming on window panes caught the attention of his neighbors in Sta. Rosa Village I here.

Superintendent Eduardo Sanque, Sta. Rosa police chief, said Saito might have committed suicide since investigators found no signs of struggle in his bedroom.

He said Saito’s personal belongings were intact, including a cellular phone found on his bed.

But Sanque said probers were still not discounting foul play since the Japanese was found holding a kitchen knife in his right hand.

Since the body had been decomposing for about a week, investigators could not immediately determine what caused Saito’s death, he said.

Toshio resigned from the Japanese restaurant for unknown reasons, police said.

Toshio was a native of Tokyo, Japan. His neighbors last saw him at about 2 p.m. on June 27 while he was buying some bottles of beer from a neighborhood store.