Masaichi Yamada, who runs a fish-processing company, was arrested in the northern Japan port of Kushiro early Tuesday when the frozen corpse - still fully clothed - was uncovered. "The suspect maliciously strangled the victim with a string-like object at their home and abandoned her body in the freezer at his working place," a spokesman for police in Hokkaido told AFP by telephone.

Masaichi Yamada, who runs a fish-processing company, was arrested in the northern Japan port of Kushiro early Tuesday when the frozen corpse - still fully clothed - was uncovered.

"The suspect maliciously strangled the victim with a string-like object at their home and abandoned her body in the freezer at his working place," a spokesman for police in Hokkaido told AFP by telephone.