A MAN has been arrested over an alleged attempt to start a fire on a shinkansen (bullet train) in south-western Japan this morning, said local media as reported by Xinhua.

Kiyoshi Miyake, 69, from Fukuoka, was arrested at the scene, said police.

Kyushu Railway Co. said no injury was reported on the train from Hiroshima to Kagoshima-Chuo Station, which was running in Kumamoto prefecture at the time of the incident at about 8:40am local time.

The incident caused some shinkansen services to be temporarily suspended, resulting in delays of up to 50 minutes and affecting about 900 passengers.

The suspect was quoted as telling prefectural police that he “wanted to imitate” the recent arson and knife attacks on a train in Tokyo.

A man wearing a costume reminiscent of Batman villain The Joker injured 17 individuals during an attack on a Keio Line train on October 31.

Suspect Kyota Hattori, who adores the fictional character, told investigators that he wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty. – Bernama, November 8, 2021.