Typhoon Pabuk slammed into Japan Tuesday, leaving at least two people dead, seriously disrupting transport and forcing the evacuation of thousands from coastal areas.
The storm was on course to hit the Tokyo region on Wednesday morning.
Packing winds of up to 108 kilometers (67 miles) per hour, the huge typhoon made landfall on Kushimoto in Wakayama prefecture on the main island of Honshu some 450 kilometers (279 miles) southwest of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said.
"The typhoon reached land at Kushimoto shortly after 7:00 pm (1000 GMT)," an agency spokesman said. "We are continuing to urge residents in the region to be on the alert."
More than 7,000 people evacuated low-lying and seafront homes in towns in western Japan and the storm grounded at least 114 domestic flights, local officials said.
Pabuk was moving northeast at a speed of 20 kilometers (12 miles) per hour, the agency said. The typhoon was already causing heavy rain in the capital, which was last hit by a typhoon 12 years ago.
A railway employee died when he tried to remove trees that had fallen onto overhead power cables in high winds associated with the storm in Mie prefecture, western Japan.
"He was sent to a nearby hospital, but died later," said a spokesman for Kinki Nippon Railway Co. Ltd.
A 66-year-old tile plant worker in Aichi prefecture, central Japan, also died after he fell from the roof of his factory while preparing for the typhoon, a police spokesman said.
At least 14 other people were injured in typhoon-related accidents in western Japan, Jiji Press news agency said.
Corrugated sheeting was ripped from rooftops and streets were deserted in the region, television pictures broadcast by Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) showed.
The typhoon forced the closure of Universal Studios Japan, a hugely popular theme park in Osaka, and forced the cancellation of international flights linking the city of Nagoya in central Japan to Manila, Detroit, Guam, Saipan and Los Angeles.
Some rail and ferry services were also suspended. Shinkansen bullet train services were still running, although NHK reported trains between Tokyo and Osaka were halted temporarily midway.
Pabuk -- the Lao name for the giant catfish unique to the Mekong river -- was moving northeast at 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) per hour, causing heavy rain, violent winds and high tides.
Gusts of up to 182 kilometers (113 miles) per hour were recorded at Cape Muroto at 5:50 am.
Pabuk, already lashing much of Honshu west of Osaka with rain and strong winds, was expected to reach Tokyo's Kanto region early on Wednesday, meteorologist Hiroshi Kurasawa said.
If it holds its present course, Pabuk will be the first typhoon to hit the region since July 1989.
"The typhoon is moving slowly and causing rainfall over a long period, making us concerned about damage from heavy rain in particular," Kurasawa said.
Heavy rainfall of up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) in the 24 hours to noon Wednesday was forecast in some areas of western Japan, as well as around Nagoya and Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said.
The agency warned of strong winds, heavy rain and high waves likely to crest at more than nine meters (30 feet) -- TOKYO (AFP)
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