The body of Ibuki Kizu, an 18-year-old female university student, was found Sunday in a confectionery shop run by her father, Hideki, in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward, police said.
Kizu's body was found stuffed inside the shop's refrigerator. Police said the victim appeared to have marks on her neck indicating pressure had been applied.
Her 43-year-old father told a family member by telephone Saturday afternoon that he had stabbed his daughter at the shop and was going to jump into a river and kill himself, according to the police.
Authorities were unable to contact him, but his body was later found hanging from a tree next to a river in the city of Saitama.
"I stabbed my daughter and I will die by drowning myself in the river," the father was quoted as saying by a family member.
Police found pressure marks on the victim's neck, but no stab wounds. Investigators will conduct an autopsy to determine exactly how she died.
He left for work Saturday morning, while Ibuki, who lived with her parents and a younger brother, left home for her part-time job later in the morning. However, she failed to arrive.
"The daughter was very gentle and quiet, and the father really loved his kids. I wonder what actually happened to the family," said a 70-year-old woman who runs a flower shop in the neighborhood.