TOKYO (REUTERS) - A US tourist has been arrested in Japan after a local woman he met through a dating app went missing earlier this month, her body believed to have been dismembered and scattered across several locations in western Japan, according to media.

Police arrested the 26-year-old man last week on suspicion of confining the woman, who had been reported missing since Feb 16, media said.

They later found what appeared to be the woman's head inside a suitcase at a flat the man had booked in Osaka through a private holiday rental site, media said.

Media did not name the woman but cited police sources as saying she was 27 years old and from Sanda city, in neighbouring Hyogo prefecture.

The news reports said she had told a friend she had planned to meet a man she had become acquainted with through a social networking app before going missing.

Security camera footage showed the woman and a man believed to be the suspect meeting in Osaka and entering a flat together on Feb 16, media said.

Separate footage also showed the man leaving the building alone multiple times carrying a large bag, media said.

When contacted by Reuters, a Hyogo prefecture police official confirmed the location and times the torso, legs and arms were found but provided no further details on the case.