Man arrested after starting fire on bullet train in southwestern Japan

Kumamoto – A man was arrested on suspicion of trying to start a fire on a bullet train in southwestern Japan on Monday morning, police said.

Kiyoshi Miyake, 69, from Fukuoka, was arrested on the spot, they said. No injuries were reported on the train to Kagoshima-Chuo station. The train passed through Kumamoto Prefecture at the time of the incident around 8:40 a.m., according to JR Kyushu.

The bullet train from Hiroshima made an emergency stop and smoke was seen inside car no. 3, the operator said, adding that the fire was extinguished immediately after part of a seat had been burned.

The incident comes after a stabbing and arson on a Tokyo train on Halloween night.

According to Kumamoto Prefectural Police, Miyake said he saw the news of the Tokyo train wreck and “tried to copy”[ads1]; it. He also told police he was scattering liquid on the floor and throwing paper which he burned with a lighter.

A number of attacks on trains and station premises in the Tokyo area have taken place recently.

On October 31, a man dressed as the Joker, the villain in the “Batman” movies and comics, injured 17 people, including one seriously, during a stabbing and arson on a Keio Line train.

The suspect in the Keio Line attack has been quoted by police as saying that he had been inspired by a previous train attack on the Odakyu line in August, in which 10 passengers were injured in a stabbing.

On October 15, two men were stabbed by a man at JR Ueno Station. In a separate incident, two people were injured at a subway station in Tokyo in late August after a man sprayed sulfuric acid on another man’s face.

Following the Keio Line incident, the Ministry of Transport asked all railway companies in Japan to strengthen vigilance to ensure safety.