--- title: A Train in Japan Was Stopped By a Snake Found Riding Inside description: The bullet train from Tokyo to Hiroshima had to make an unexpected pit stop to remove the serpent stowaway, but still arrived on time. canonical: https://time.com/4507564/snake-train-news/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-26T14:29:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:58.671Z og:title: A Train in Japan Was Stopped By a Snake Found Riding Inside og:description: No one was injured, but the train did make an unexpected stop to remove it. og:url: https://time.com/4507564/snake-train-news/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c84c247c356293a/6988a778cd1bbac7fa70276a/brown-snake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2800 og:image:height: 1575 og:image:alt: AUSTRALIA-ANIMAL-SNAKES og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Train in Japan Was Stopped By a Snake Found Riding Inside twitter:description: No one was injured, but the train did make an unexpected stop to remove it. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c84c247c356293a/6988a778cd1bbac7fa70276a/brown-snake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Express Trip Stopped Due to Stowaway Snake on a Train > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 26, 2016 2:29 PM UTC  A deadly Australia eastern brown snake like this one can kill up to 20 adults. The brown rat snake found in Japan, meanwhile, was practically harmless. A deadly Australia eastern brown snake like this one can kill up to 20 adults. The brown rat snake found in Japan, meanwhile, was practically harmless. William West&;Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 26, 2016 2:29 PM UTC A high-speed bullet train in Japan made an unexpected pit stop on Monday when a passenger discovered a slithery, less-than-ideal seatmate: [a snake](http://time.com/2933842/75000-snakes-gathered-in-most-terrifying-animal-meet-up-ever/?iid=sr-link4). The brown rat snake was discovered curled around the armrest of a seat, [AP reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/30a6dbb5f8c640b5a135053971ff608e?utm%5Fcampaign=SocialFlow&utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=AP%5FOddities). The snake’s seatmate apparently spent about an hour happily oblivious to the unusual stowaway until it was spotted by another passenger, at which point the train stopped for railway police to extricate the serpent from its unlikely situation, which only took about a minute. (No heroics from Samuel L. Jackson’s memorable [_Snakes on a Plane_ thriller](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1228884,00.html?iid=sr-link2) were required in this scenario, fortunately.) The brown snake was about 12 inches long and was not poisonous, [Yahoo reports](https://www.yahoo.com/news/snake-train-halts-japan-bullet-express-103800351.html). No one was injured in the course of its free ride, and no owner has yet come forward to claim it. (Rat snakes are commonly [kept as pets](http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/elaobs.htm).) According to the AP, the train reached its ultimate destination of Hiroshima on time, despite the interruption — proving that even snakes on a train can’t delay the famous punctuality of Japan’s public transportation system. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4507564/snake-train-news/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4507564/snake-train-news/"},"headline":"Express Trip Stopped Due to Stowaway Snake on a Train","datePublished":"2016-09-26T14:29:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:58.671Z","description":"Snake on a... train.","url":"https://time.com/4507564/snake-train-news/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c84c247c356293a/6988a778cd1bbac7fa70276a/brown-snake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c84c247c356293a/6988a778cd1bbac7fa70276a/brown-snake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AUSTRALIA-ANIMAL-SNAKES","caption":"AUSTRALIA-ANIMAL-SNAKES","creditText":"William West&;Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4507564/snake-train-news/","name":"Express Trip Stopped Due to Stowaway Snake on a Train"}}]}] ```