A 25-year-old man is in police custody Saturday after he allegedly attempted to hijack a bus in Yawatahama, Ehime Prefecture, at knifepoint. No one was hurt in the incident.
The identity of the suspect, a resident of Yawatahama, was withheld because he has been undergoing psychiatric treatment, police said.
The suspect has already served a prison term for hijacking a bus in April 1997.
He was currently being treated as an inpatient at a local hospital but was granted permission to leave temporarily.
Police said the man held the knife to the neck of bus driver Mamoru Onoyama, of Uwajima Automobile Co., and ordered him to drive to the neighboring town of Nagahama, north of Yawatahama.
Onoyama, however, continued driving along the usual route, letting off almost 20 of the bus's passengers at the next two stops.
Passengers notified police, who subdued the hijacker at the third stop -- in front of the carrier's office.
The suspect had already allowed the driver and the four remaining passengers off at the stop and had handed over the knife to company officials, police said.
Investigators said the suspect stood next to the driver during the ordeal, which lasted about 10 minutes.
The suspect did not threaten any passengers, and some of them did not even notice something was amiss.
During Golden Week, a 17-year-old boy on temporary leave from a psychiatric facility hijacked a Saga-Fukuoka bus, killing one passenger and wounding several others.