A man in his 50s, believed to be the owner of a ramen shop in Kobe, was found dead at the restaurant Saturday, with police investigating the case as a murder.
A female worker of the shop found him lying on the floor in the kitchen and bleeding from the mouth and nose. The worker called for an ambulance at around 11 a.m. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
According to the police, a CT scan revealed what appears to be a bullet lodged in the man's head. Investigative sources said the man could be linked with a yakuza crime syndicate amid a feud between rival gangs.
There were no customers in the ramen shop, located in Kobe's Nagata Ward, at the time of the incident.