A 15-year-old high-school student was found dead early Tuesday morning in a park in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, police said.
Police suspect the youth, identified as Takahiro Hoshino, from the local city of Sugito, may have been killed in a fight. He was reportedly bleeding from the nose and had bruises on his face.
Neighbors were quoted as saying they heard shouts in the park around 2 a.m. A local resident called police about 5 a.m. saying a boy was lying on the ground in Hachiman Park.
Police identified the victim, a night student at Kasukabe High School, from the train pass he was carrying.