Train services in parts of western Japan restarted at around 6 p.m. Sunday after being disrupted earlier in the day due to a report of suspicious items found at Kyoto Station, the operator said.
Police said a passenger found a backpack on a train upon its arrival at the station. They said the backpack was notable because it had kanji characters spelling out what appeared to be a chemical name.
However, only clothes were found inside the backpack and posed no danger, the police said, adding that they returned the backpack to its owner, believing it was not left on the train intentionally.
A station worker initially reported to a command center of West Japan Railway Co. at around 4:35 p.m. that there were suspicious objects on platforms 2 and 3, according to the company.
A total of 80 trains were canceled, and 97 were delayed by up to nearly two hours on JR Tokaido Line and other rail services, affecting about 85,000 people, it said.
The country's Golden Week holiday, which began in late April, is coming to an end. Train stations and airports are crowded with tourists amid easing fears of COVID-19.
"Today is the last day of my trip. It would take a long time to drive home, so I have no choice but to stay (one more night)," a 26-year-old woman from Fukui Prefecture said.
