Typhoon Lan ripped across western Japan after making landfall on the Kii Peninsula on Tuesday, leaving at least 23 people injured as heavy rainfall disrupted air and train services at the height of the summer holiday season.
After making landfall near Cape Shionomisaki in Wakayama Prefecture, just before 5 a.m., the typhoon traversed northward across the country's main island of Honshu, bringing localized torrential rain from Tottori to Okayama prefectures, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The agency in the evening issued a heavy rain warning for Tottori Prefecture, with the local government in Tottori city also issuing its highest level of alert for its some 180,000 residents.
Typhoon Lan is expected to travel northward over the Sea of Japan through Thursday and approach Hokkaido in northern Japan, the agency said, while warning of heavy rainfall over a wide area from western to northern Japan and possible flooding and landslides.
In the city of Wakayama, a man in his 60s was found unconscious and remains in critical condition after being crushed by the outer wall of a building.
Several other injuries have also been reported across western Japan, including a woman in her 70s who was hit by the eaves of a building in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.
Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. canceled Tuesday over 560 flights mostly departing and arriving in western Japan, affecting more than 50,000 passengers.
Around 650 people were forced to stay overnight at Kansai airport, located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, after rail and road access was cut off by the typhoon.
Many people had to sleep at the airport, and the facility operator handed out sleeping bags and water to those stranded there.
A weary-looking 65-year-old woman from Taiwan said, "I hadn't expected something like this."
A 22-year-old university student from Okinawa, who had given up on his hopes of sightseeing in Kyoto, complained that it was cold overnight at the airport due to the strong air conditioning.
Major shinkansen stations such as JR Shin-Osaka Station, which would usually be packed with holidaymakers during the annual Bon summer holidays, were mostly deserted.
Central Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. canceled all bullet train services between Nagoya and Shin-Osaka stations and those between Shin-Osaka and Okayama stations throughout Tuesday.
Universal Studios Japan, a popular theme park in Osaka, closed Tuesday and four summer high school baseball championship games were canceled at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture near Osaka and were rescheduled to Wednesday.
At 8 p.m., the typhoon was about 40 kilometers north-northwest of Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, with an atmospheric pressure of 990 hectopascals and winds of up to 126 km per hour, according to the weather agency.
The typhoon lashed some western Japan areas with heavy rain, with precipitation of 600 millimeters logged over a 24-hour period in Odai, Mie Prefecture, and 500 mm in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture.
Related coverage:
Trains, flights on Aug. 15 canceled as Typhoon Lan heads to western Japan
Western, central Japan brace as Typhoon Lan to make landfall Aug. 15
Typhoon brings heavy rainfall to Japan's southwest as another nears
