A team of police explosives experts in Japan rushed to the scene of a suspicious package in a parking lot this week -- only to find discarded sex toys inside.

Police in central Japan's Kakegawa received a call Wednesday morning about an unattended, silver briefcase in the parking lot of a municipal cemetery, a spokesman for the force told AFP Thursday.

The regional bomb squad was dispatched while officers blocked roads within roughly a 300-metre (1,000-foot) radius of the briefcase for more than three hours.

Local media sent a helicopter to capture the delicate and potentially risky work of the experts at the scene.

But after close examination, the team found "adult goods" inside the briefcase, the officer said, without elaborating further.

"It was at a parking lot in a remote location. It was a metallic attache case... It was a judgement call," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Everything went according to plan, so it was good," he said, adding police were relieved to find no threatening items.

Local media said the area is a popular spot for unauthorised dumping.

Japanese police were on high alert recently in the run-up to the September 27 state funeral for assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Police have faced criticism over security plans for the former leader, who was shot dead in a street while campaigning.