Google takes blame for internet disruption across Japan

Google Inc. on Saturday accepted responsibility for the widespread internet disruptions Japan experienced the previous day.

The search engine giant apologized for the trouble, saying it was caused by an errant network setting that was corrected within eight minutes of its discovery.

Google did not say whether human error or a technical malfunction was to blame.

The disrupted services used internet connections provided by NTT Communications Corp. and KDDI Corp., both of which said Friday that the issues were caused by a change in the flow of data traffic.

The affected services took hours to recover, with customers of financial institutions, including Resona Bank, unable to access their online accounts, and riders of East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) trains unable to reserve seats online.