Airlines and rail operators cancelled some services for the
coming days as the typhoon, categorized as "very strong",
barreled towards the main southwestern island of Kyushu with
gusts of up to 70 meters per second (252 km per hour/157 mph).
The meteorological agency issued an emergency warning saying the
typhoon could bring flooding, landslides and wind strong enough
to knock down some houses.
"Maximum caution is required given that forecasts are for strong
winds, high waves and high tides that have not been seen thus
far," Satoshi Sugimoto, the agency's chief forecaster, told a
news conference.
After striking Kyushu over the next few days the storm is
expected to approach central and eastern regions, including the
capital Tokyo, around the weekend, the agency said.
Authorities issued evacuation orders for more than 800,000
residents in Kagoshima prefecture in southern Kyushu and central
Japan's Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures.
In Aichi, home to Toyota's headquarters, two people believed to
be residents of a house that collapsed in a landslide during
heavy rains were unaccounted for. Three residents of the house
had been pulled out, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Toyota will suspend operations at all 14 of its plants in Japan
from Wednesday evening through Thursday morning, it said. Nissan
said it would suspend operations at its Kyushu plant on Thursday
and Friday morning, while Honda will also temporarily close its
factory in Kumamoto in southwestern Kyushu.
Shanshan is the latest harsh weather system to hit Japan
following last week's Typhoon Ampil, which also led to blackouts
and evacuations.
ANA Holdings said it would cancel more than 210 domestic flights
in total between Wednesday and Friday slated to leave or arrive
in southwestern Japan, affecting about 18,400 passengers.
Japan Airlines said it would cancel 170 domestic flights through
Thursday. A total of 10 international flights operated by both
airlines will also be suspended.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Chang-Ran Kim, Maki Shiraki and John
Geddie; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Hugh Lawson)
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