A bus has crashed into a wall of an expressway in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, killing seven people.
Local police say the deaths from cardiopulmonary arrest were confirmed by doctors at the scene.
The accident took place shortly before 5 AM on Sunday near a junction on the Kan-etsu expressway in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture.
Local fire and emergency authorities say nine people were seriously wounded and 30 were slightly injured.
Pictures taken from an NHK helicopter show that the front part of the bus is badly damaged, and much of the vehicle is sticking into mid-air off the expressway.
The head of the company that operates the bus said the vehicle left Kanazawa City in central Japan on Saturday night, and was heading for Tokyo Disneyland.
