Indonesian police have detained two men suspected of murdering a Japanese woman.

41-year-old Hiromi Shimada was found dead at her house in Bali last Saturday.

Bali’s police chief says the suspects are construction workers who worked at a construction site near the victim's home.

The police questioned 20 witnesses during the investigation, including Shimada's Balinese ex-husband, neighbors and her friends.

Witnesses tell police that the two suspects were last seen having drinks with Shimada in a nearby coffee shop on Saturday.

[Sustina, Bali Police Chief]:
"It started when they were drunk, they were close acquaintances, they asked to have intercourse with the victim but she refused. Then the two men robbed the victim...They killed her and ran off with all her belongings."

One of the suspects was arrested in the Kuta area and the other suspect was arrested in Jember, East Java Province.

Shimada was supposed to return to Japan after the New Year, and has been staying in Bali for the last 10 years.

She's the second Japanese woman to be killed in the Kuta area of Bali in the last three months.