TOKYO -- A Japanese man who was arrested over the death of a Filipina woman allegedly chopped up her body and cleaned the pieces in a washing machine, reports said Tuesday.

Media accounts also revealed that Hiroshi Nozaki, 48, had served prison time for a similar case of mutilating the body of a Filipina bar hostess in 2000 but was set free.

Police on Sunday arrested Nozaki on charges of mutilating the body of 22-year-old Honiefaith Ratilla Kamiosawa, who worked in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district.

The private Asahi network said Nozaki cut her body into pieces in his bathroom and "washed them elaborately in a laundry machine" to make them lighter or to make it difficult to trace the cause of death.

Little blood remained in the recovered body parts, although blood was found in the washing machine, the Asahi and other networks said.

Police declined comment on the reports. They earlier said that the victim's co-worker, who shared an apartment with her and Nozaki, saw him carrying a body part.

Nozaki was taken into custody after trying to commit suicide on a street in a Tokyo suburb by slitting his wrist.

Investigators found a scribbled note and a key he was carrying to a baggage locker where they found a body part.

The victim was reportedly cut into more than 10 pieces that were put into plastic bags inside a suitcase in a locker, but her head had not yet been found.

In the earlier crime in 2000, Nozaki burned the body parts and flushed them down a toilet, the Sports Nippon tabloid said.

The victim's cause of death was never established and he was convicted only of charges of destroying a body. He served three-and-a-half years in prison before being released, the newspaper said.

Roppongi is known for its sleazy nightlife including bars with foreign hostesses.

In the best-known crime case in Roppongi, 21-year-old British bar hostess Lucie Blackman vanished in 2000, with her dismembered body recovered seven months later.

Convicted serial rapist Joji Obara, a wealthy businessman, was acquitted last year over Blackman's death for lack of evidence but is back on trial in an appeal.