TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Shinkansen bullet train services in northeastern Japan resumed after a nine-hour stoppage Wednesday after they were halted due to the discovery of debris on an overhead wire and strong winds, the train operator said.

Around 9:15 a.m., a 100-meter-long plastic string was detected attached to a wire at JR Fukushima Station, disrupting bullet train operations between Tokyo and Morioka stations in the northeastern prefecture of Iwate, East Japan Railway said.

JR East resumed the services shortly after 6 p.m.

As conditions intensified and an anemometer in the prefecture registered the regulated maximum wind speed threshold, JR East said it expanded the suspension area northward from about 10:30 a.m.

Recently, shinkansen services in Japan, known for their punctuality and reliability, have frequently been delayed or halted.

Earlier this month, a bullet train connecting Tokyo to northeastern Japan made an emergency stop after two cars decoupled, causing a suspension of services. A similar incident also took place in September.

JR East is the only operator that couples different trains for Shinkansen services.

According to the weather agency, wind speeds of up to 126 kilometers per hour were observed in parts of Miyagi Prefecture at 10:09 a.m. on Wednesday, the highest since data collection began in 2008.