TOKYO: Japan’s transport systems, including shinkansen bullet trains, faced widespread disruptions, and many tourist spots were deserted as a powerful typhoon veered east of Tokyo on Friday, near the end of the Bon summer holidays.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of violent winds, mudslides, high waves, and flooding, forecasting heavy rain in the eastern region around Tokyo and the northeast, Kyodo news agency reported.
At 6 pm Friday, Typhoon Ampil was located some 160 kilometres south-southeast of Choshi in Chiba Prefecture. The typhoon is moving north-northeast at 15 km per hour, according to the weather agency.
It has an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its centre and is packing winds of up to 216 kph.
Central Japan Railway suspended all Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train services between Tokyo and Nagoya in central Japan for the entire day, with shutters closed at Tokyo Station’s ticket gates.
“I reserved a seat on the bullet train but will have to go on the night bus instead. I’m exhausted,“ said a 20-year-old university student from Osaka who was visiting Tokyo with his friend.
Beyond Nagoya, the rail operator limited the number of trains to and from Shin-Osaka in western Japan.
East Japan Railway cancelled some bullet trains on parts of the Tohoku, Joetsu, and Yamagata lines Friday afternoon. It said it will return to normal operations on Saturday.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said they cancelled approximately 650 international and domestic flights to and from Tokyo’s Haneda airport and Narita airport, east of the capital, affecting about 120,000 passengers.
In Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, some commercial complexes, including the Sogo department store, were closed.
Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea in the prefecture were closed at 3 pm, six hours earlier than scheduled, according to operator Oriental Land.
A Japanese-style inn, or ryokan, in Chiba, which was damaged in a 2019 typhoon, cancelled all of its Friday reservations despite being fully booked.
“Customers will be in trouble if we experience problems such as a power outage,“ said Kensuke Takao, the president of the ryokan operator.
In Tokyo’s Asakusa district, the landmark big red lantern of the Kaminarimon Gate was folded to prevent it from being damaged by the strong winds.
“Although it is the peak season for my business, there are few customers,“ said a rickshaw puller in his 40s.
Kentaro Sanada, an employee at a tempura restaurant nearby that closed at 3.30 pm, earlier than the usual closing time of 9 pm, said, “There is a risk that customers may not be able to go home. There’s nothing we can do about the weather.”
In the 24 hours from 6 pm Friday, the typhoon is forecast to dump 200 millimeters of rain on both the Kanto-Koshin region, which includes Tokyo, and the Tohoku region.
The typhoon is expected to veer eastward toward the sea east of the northeastern Japan region on Saturday. – Bernama, Kyodo
