Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced two men to 30 years in prison for killing a Tokyo couple who ran restaurants in the Ueno district in the Japanese capital and damaging their bodies in 2024. Prosecutors had sought indefinite terms for the defendants, Hikaru Sasaki, 30, and Ryoken Hirayama, 27. The defense side admitted the charges and argued that their sentences should be about 20 years. Five more people, including the victims' first daughter, Manami Takarajima, 33, and her common-law husband, Seiha Sekine, 34, have also been indicted. Friday's rulings were the first over the case. According to the indictment, Sasaki and Hirayama allegedly conspired with the other five to strangle Ryutaro Takarajima, 55, and his wife, Sachiko, 56, at an unoccupied house in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in April 2024. They are suspected to have transported their bodies to the town of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, later and burned them. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]