Man Arrested after Starting a Fire on Kyushu Bullet Train

From Jiji Press

Text is altered to remove the suspect’s name

November 8 2021

KUMAMOTO – A 69-year-old man was arrested Monday after throwing liquid on the floor of a train on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line and setting fire to it while the bullet train was traveling in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on the day. 

A passenger put out the fire, and no one was injured. The suspect carried out the attack in JR Kyushu train , bound for Kagoshima-Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture, south of Kumamoto, from Hiroshima Station in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, around 8:45 a.m. (11:45 p.m. Sunday GMT). The Sakura No. 401 train was running between Kumamoto and Shin-Yatsushiro stations at the time of the incident.

According to JR Kyushu and the Kumamoto prefectural police department, there were some 30 passengers in car No. 3 of the eight-car train, where the attack happened. The car was for passengers without seat reservation.

The Kumamoto police arrested the suspect on the train at Shin-Yatsushiro on suspicion of attempted arson. The suspect was sitting in his seat when police officers entered car No. 3. The suspect was not in possession of a knife.

The suspect is a resident of the city of Fukuoka, the capital of the namesake prefecture, adjacent to Kumamoto Prefecture, admitted to the crime, saying that he was trying to copy the knife and arson attack on a Keio Corp rapid train in Tokyo on Oct. 31, which left more than a dozen people injured, police sources said.