A 66-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder in Okinawa Prefecture in 1987, police said.
The arrest came less than a month before the 15-year statute of limitations runs out on the case.
Police said Seiichi Ikehara, a carpenter, initially denied but eventually admitted that he stabbed a 63-year-old woman several times with a knife at her bar in Urasoe on Sept. 19, 1987.
After the incident, police obtained an arrest warrant for Ikehara.
They said he had been living on money given to him by the woman but decided to kill her after she told him that she wanted to end their relationship.
As the statute of limitations expires Sept. 19, Okinawa Prefectural Police made one more attempt to track down the suspect and the effort paid off.
Police said they were tipped off that the man was often seen at a park in the city of Okinawa. Police officers saw Ikehara at the park Thursday and arrested him.
The woman died of illness in February 1999 at age 74.