Woman's body found in forest, investigated as murder; found on futon in Maibara, Shiga (Kyodo News)

On the 2nd, a woman's body was found lying on a futon in a wooded area in Maibara City, Shiga Prefecture. On the 3rd, the prefectural police determined through a post-mortem autopsy that she had died of asphyxiation caused by someone pressuring her neck, and set up an investigation headquarters at Maibara Police Station to investigate the case as a murder and abandonment of a body. The identity and circumstances of the case will be investigated.