A taxi driver was found stabbed to death in his taxi early Saturday morning in Nagoya's Meito Ward, Aichi Prefectural Police said.
Independent taxi driver Mikio Maeno, 66, was found in a squatting position in the rear seat of the taxi with a white seat cover pulled over him, the police said.
The police said Maeno suffered stab wounds to the left side of his back and plan to conduct an autopsy.
According to the police, Maeno's taxi driver's license and both number plates are missing. A large dent was found around the right taillight.
The police said they suspect Maeno was killed elsewhere before being moved to the spot where he was found because one of his shoes and fragments of the broken taillight are missing.
A woman living nearby called the police at around 6:15 a.m. after she discovered Maeno in his taxi parked on the one-way street. She said the vehicle was not there when she went to work at about 3:30 a.m., according to the police.
A housewife who drove by the area shortly after 4 a.m. said she saw a man aged around 50 in the driver's seat of the taxi and looking behind him.
Another male witness apparently saw a suspicious man fleeing on a bicycle.
The taxi was found in a residential area about 10 km east of JR Nagoya Station.