Typhoon Shanshan wreaked havoc across large parts of Japan on Friday, bringing torrential rains that triggered warnings of flooding and landslides, disrupting travel services, and halting production at major factories.
The powerful storm has claimed the lives of at least four people and left 99 others injured, according to the country’s disaster management agency. The storm made landfall in the southwestern region of Kyushu on Thursday, with authorities warning it could be one of the strongest to ever hit the area. Residents, like 67-year-old Yu Fukuda, who runs a fish farm and restaurant in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, returned to their properties on Friday to find widespread damage. Fukuda’s restaurant was flooded with waters reaching one meter (3 feet) high, leaving mud streaks and debris in its wake. “I felt very sad,” she said as she and her family worked to clear away the damage.
Typhoon Shanshan brought gusts of up to 180 km per hour (112 mph), powerful enough to topple moving trucks. As of Friday afternoon, the storm was near Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture and was moving eastward, according to authorities. The typhoon’s slow progression has caused concern, as it has brought record-breaking rainfall to areas far from its center. In Shizuoka, a major city in central Japan, more than 500 millimeters of rain fell within 72 hours—a volume not seen since records began in 1976.
The extreme weather has left around 250,000 households without power in Kyushu, though many have since had services restored. Notices to evacuate have been issued to over 3.3 million people across Japan, including in Kyushu and the central and eastern regions, such as Tokyo and Yokohama. However, disaster management minister Yoshifumi Matsumura reported that only 30,000 residents had evacuated, mainly in Kyushu.
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The typhoon’s effects have also caused significant disruptions in the country’s industrial sector. Major automakers like Toyota, Nissan, and Honda have suspended operations at their domestic plants, while tech companies including Renesas, Tokyo Electron, and Sony have temporarily halted production at some facilities. Airlines such as ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines have canceled hundreds of domestic and international flights, and ferry and rail services, including the bullet train between Tokyo and Nagoya, were suspended on Friday morning.
Tourists have also been impacted, with many, like Lin Yue-Hua from Taiwan, finding themselves stranded. After her flight from Fukuoka was canceled on Thursday, Lin struggled to find her way back home amid widespread transportation shutdowns. “We were very worried and upset because we didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Typhoon Shanshan is the latest in a series of severe weather events to strike Japan, following closely on the heels of Typhoon Ampil earlier this month, which also caused widespread blackouts and evacuations. As the storm moves toward the central and eastern regions, including Tokyo, authorities are urging residents to remain vigilant and prepared for further disruptions.
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