Tokyo: A man was arrested on suspicion of attempting to start a fire on a Shinkansen bullet train in Japan Monday, police said. Kiyoshi Miyake, 69, from Fukuoka, was arrested at the scene, Xinhua news agency quoted the police as saying.
According to Kyushu Railway Co., no injuries were reported on the train from Hiroshima bound for Kagoshima-Chuo Station, which was running in Kumamoto prefecture at the time of the incident at around 8.40 a.m.
The incident caused some Shinkansen services temporarily to be suspended, resulting in delays of up to 50 minutes and affecting around 900 passengers.
The suspect was quoted as telling the police that he “wanted to imitate” the recent knife and arson attack on a train in Tokyo October 31.
In the incident, a man wearing a costume reminiscent of Batman’s nemesis, the Joker, injured 17 people during the attack on a Keio Line train.
Suspect Kyota Hattori, who adores the Joker, has told investigators that he wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty.
