YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A Japanese man was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of killing a bar owner at her establishment on “Bar Row,” the popular entertainment district in Fussa frequented by U.S. troops and civilians from Yokota Air Base.

Takeshi Ozawa, 25, was arrested on suspicion of stabbing and killing Itsuko Fukushima, 49, in a bathroom at her bar, Rouge, around 4 a.m. Wednesday, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Fukushima was found bleeding on the bathroom floor around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday by her husband, who checked the bar after Fukushima did not return home after she left for the bar around 10 p.m. Tuesday, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman said. She apparently bled to death from stab wounds to her chest and back, he said.

Ozawa admitted stabbing her, telling investigators he got upset when Fukushima demanded payment of a 60,000-yen (about $503) tab and rebuked him, Yomiuri Shimbun reported. He is believed to have been a regular customer of the bar, it said.

It also reported that police were led to Ozawa based on a bar worker’s testimony that she saw him with Fukushima when she left the bar after it closed around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Ozawa told the investigators that he used a knife from the bar to stab Fukushima and returned it to its original place after washing the blood off, Mainichi Shimbun reported.

Yokota has a policy restricting its personnel from being in the Bar Row area between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. daily — and that’s not likely to change, said Capt. Chris Watt, a 374th Airlift Wing spokesman.

He said Thursday the base was not involved in the investigation but stood ready to assist Japanese investigators if needed.