JR Bus Kanto Co. will have to suspend the operations of 10 of its buses for up to 35 days over a case of drunken driving this past summer.
The transport ministry, acting through the Kanto District Transport Bureau, handed down the punishment Tuesday against the bus line's branches in Tokyo and Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture.
Takayuki Fukuda, 32, was arrested Aug. 18 at a service area on the Tomei Expressway for driving a long-distance bus from Tokyo to Osaka while drunk. He has since been indicted and sacked. The Kanto Transport Bureau of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry attributed the incident to the bus company's lack of supervision.
On Tuesday, the bureau ordered JR Bus Kanto's Tokyo branch to suspend operations of eight buses making daytime Tokyo-Osaka runs for 35 days.