Japanese authorities today arrested a 31-year-old man for suspected murder in a rural area.

This was after four people were killed in a rare shooting and stabbing incident following a 12-hour stand-off with police.

The suspect had holed up in his house after shooting two police officers who arrived at the scene in response to a report that a woman had been stabbed.

The head of the Nagano prefectural police told a televised press conference that the suspect used what appeared to be a hunting rifle in the shooting.

The suspect is the son of the Nakano city council head, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The two police officers and the woman were taken to hospital and pronounced dead within hours, police chief, Iwao Koyama, said.

"This is a heinous crime that has aroused great fear in the residents of the prefecture and society at large," he said.

Another elderly woman also died after an apparent knife attack, police said.

Police officers surround the scene of a stabbing and shooting incident in Nakano.

She was found lying on the ground outside the house on Thursday afternoon, and police were unable to get to her, media reported.

Police detained the man around 4:30am (1930 GMT) on Friday, about 12 hours after the first call to emergency responders, media said.

He was arrested for the suspected murder of one of the police officers, Koyama said.

Shootings are extremely rare in Japan, where gun ownership is tightly regulated.

Anyone seeking to own a gun must go through a rigorous vetting process.

A car carrying a man who committed a shooting and stabbing incident enters the Nakano Police Station in Nakano.

The suspect had a licence for a hunting rifle, the head of the National Public Safety Commission told a separate briefing.

Koyama said that the suspect's mother and aunt, who were in the house with him, escaped on their own.

Few other details were known, including the suspect's motive.

- Reuters