‘Bright, positive person’: Colleagues identify East Vancouver homicide victim

Co-workers of Vancouver’s latest homicide victim are grieving and in mourning.

Friends and colleagues have identified 32-year-old Japanese national Wataru Kakiuchi as the man who died due to a fatal stab wound on Wednesday.

Kakiuchi was a chef and longtime employee of Hapa Izakaya, a Japanese restaurant in Yaletown.

“(He) was a really bright, positive person,” said Justin Ault, the restaurant’s owner.

“(He) was the type of person no one could dislike.”

Click to play video: 'Japanese national identified as victim of fatal Vancouver stabbing'

Japanese national identified as victim of fatal Vancouver stabbing

The restaurant was closed Wednesday evening but was open to staff to provide a place of mourning.

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Ault said he spoke with Vancouver police officers who confirmed it was Kakiuchi who was killed.

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Vancouver police officers responded to a stabbing around 3:30 a.m. on Union Street, just east of Main Street, on the edge of Chinatown.

Officers found Kakiuchi with a stab wound. He died before being taken to hospital.

No arrests have been made.

“When I spoke with VPD, they let me know they had spoken with the Japanese consulate and that his family had been informed of the tragic news,” Ault said.

“He was a great musician, a great cook, a great person and friend. He will be sorely missed.”

The owner said Kakiuchi was out with other co-workers Tuesday night in Gastown and at the end of the night he was supposed to be catching a taxi home to Burnaby.

It is the fourth homicide in Vancouver this year.

Anyone with information, including video footage from the area at the time of the stabbing, is asked to contact investigators at 604-717-2500.

Click to play video: 'Vancouver police investigate fatal stabbing in Chinatown neighbourhood'

Vancouver police investigate fatal stabbing in Chinatown neighbourhood

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