Tsunemi Murakami, the JR West safety director, said he instructed company employees to "fully cooperate" with police investigation to look into the cause of the accident.
"We take it seriously because of a large accident like this," he said.
Deadly train accidents are rare in Japan. Monday's accident was the worst rail disaster in nearly 42 years in safety-conscious Japan, which is home to one of the world's most complex, efficient and heavily traveled rail networks. A three-train crash in November 1963 killed 161 people in Tsurumi, outside Tokyo.
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