Pictures reportedly of the incident show a large ball of light illuminating the night sky. Some social media users reported hearing a rumbling noise as the light was seen.
The light was so bright it could be seen through closed curtains, according to NHK news.
According to Kyodo News, the object is believed to have been a bolide, which is a very bright meteor. Takeshi Inoue, director of the Akashi Municipal Planetarium in Hyogo Prefecture, told Kyodo News that meteors this bright are rare and that the meteor seems to have been "as bright as the full moon."
A similar meteor was seen above Tokyo in July, fragments of which were later found in the Chiba Prefecture.