Overview

• Around 8:00 a.m. on Aug. 28, smoke from a passenger’s mobile battery filled a Joetsu Shinkansen car on the Toki 300 between Omiya and Ueno.
• Police said a man in his 50s smothered the device with clothing and sustained a minor burn to his hand, with no other injuries or damage reported.
• JR East reported the Toki 300 reached Tokyo about nine minutes late, and the return Toki 307 departed using a different car roughly 15 minutes behind schedule.
• At about 4:25 p.m., a mobile battery apparently ignited near the Australia pavilion at the Osaka/Kansai Expo; the fire was put out on site and no injuries were reported.
• A JR Ueno Station staffer placed a 119 call around 8:15 a.m., and police and fire departments in Tokyo and Osaka are examining the causes in both cases.