Police found a suicide note inside one burning car
At least one person has died after a number of blasts in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya went off.
Emergency services say at least two people were injured.
The explosions went off simultaneously around 1130am local time in the city, located in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo.
Two cars in a nearby parking area caught fire at the same time, but it is not clear what caused the explosions.
Police reportedly found a suicide note inside one burning car, which was registered to a 72-year-old man who is believed to be a former member of the Self-Defence Forces. The man’s Utsunomiya house was destroyed in a fire shortly before the explosions.
A festival celebrating traditional culture was taking place in a nearby park, where at least one of the explosions took place. A man who was in the park at the time said he heard “a big sound” and smelled gunpowder.
A video camera at a nearby Utsonmiya station recorded the sound of three explosions in quick succession recorded at 1131am, 1132am and a “bigger sound” at 1147am.