Suspicious package report follows two cases of handguns being brought in to nearby international airport.

Kyoto Station is one of those places that’s busy pretty much at any time of day, and on any day of the week. With Kyoto being one of Japan’s largest cities, the station sees huge numbers of commuters who work or study in the city, and the unparallelled number of temples, shrines, and other historical sites make Kyoto a year-round tourism draw for both domestic and international travelers.

But all that came to a halt on the morning of April 12, when a police bomb squad was dispatched to Kyoto Station. At around 6:45 in the morning, a station worker for West Japan Railway Company/JR West contacted the Kyoto Prefectural Police to report that an unattended box had been found on the platform between track numbers 4 and 5, from where Osaka-bound trains depart. The styrofoam package measured meaasued approximately 36 x 50 x 36 centimeters (14.2 x 19.7 x 14.2 inches) and was wrapped in yellow tape, but with no owner nearby.

Police evacuated that area of the station and closed down the ticket gates while the bomb team moved in to examine the package, as seen in the video above. Thankfully, they were able to determine that no incendiary device was hidden inside. In fact, the contents turned out to be sweet rather than explosive, with investigators later saying that it contained “foreign confectionaries.”

Train service was resorted shortly after 9 a.m., and while some travel was disrupted, there were, of course, no injuries. No statement has been made regarding whether the owner of the package has been determined, not whether it was left behind on purpose or accidentally, but with two startling recent cases of handguns being brought into Japan though Osaka Prefecture’s Kansai International Airport, the closest major airport to Kyoto, and the World Expo currently going on in Osaka City, the police are likely to be treating any unattended packages as potential dangers, so make sure not to leave your belongings behind when getting on the train, especially if it’s something as important as sweets.

Source: MBS News via Jin, Kyoto Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
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