 "Typhoon Lan headed towards Japan as seen from our Cupola windows. Photo: Paolo Nespoli Twitter handle")
At least five people were killed with transportation systems and businesses severely disrupted as typhoon Lan lashed Japan's Pacific coast after making landfall on Monday.
The typhoon, with an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its centre and packing powerful winds of up to 198 kph, hit the Shizuoka prefecture on Honshu island at around 3 am, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to local media reports, the 21st typhoon of the season left a trail of destruction, with rivers bursting their banks and landslides engulfing homes, with the western region of Wakayama prefecture seeing as much as 800 mm of rain through a 48-hour period to Sunday.
According to the weather agency, Mie prefecture was also hard hit, with the powerful storm dumping 700 mm of rain through the same period, which also caused extensive flooding in parts of Nara prefecture.
The victims were reported from Fukuoka, Yamaguchi, Osaka, Wakayama and Mie prefectures.
Operations will be halted until Monday evening at Toyota Motor Corp.'s factories in multiple prefectures, including Iwate, Miyagi and Gifu.
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Japan's two major airline carriers, Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co., cancelled more than 100 flights, with 25,000 passengers affected.
Shinkansen bullet train services were suspended along parts of the Tokaido line, and local services in Tokyo and Osaka were disrupted during rush hour.
Evacuation orders were issued in some cities and towns, and vote counting following Sunday's lower house election suspended until Monday in areas where access to polling stations was affected by the typhoon.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, typhoon Lan will be downgraded to an extra tropical cyclone on Monday night when it reaches east of Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.
