Typhoon Halong, the 11th of the year, disrupted rail and air services throughout southwestern Japan on Saturday as it closed in on Kyushu and Shikoku with winds gusting to 200 kph (125 mph).
Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. have canceled about 400 flights, affecting passengers planning to return to their hometowns for the Bon holidays or other summer vacation travel.
The typhoon also disrupted train services in Kyushu and Shikoku, local rail operators reported.
The Meteorological Agency issued warnings for heavy rain and flooding from Okinawa to Ishikawa on the Sea of Japan coast as Halong headed toward landfall on Shikoku later Saturday.
At 11 a.m., the typhoon was around 250 km south-southwest of Cape Ashizuri in Kochi Prefecture and was heading north-northeast with an atmospheric pressure of 955 hectopascals at its center and winds of up to 198 kph.
Rainfall in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Sunday is expected to reach 700 mm in Shikoku, 600 mm in the Kinki and Tokai regions, 400 mm in northern Kyushu and 300 mm in southern Kyushu.
Waves as high as 12 meters are expected, the agency said.
Japan averaged more than 11 typhoons a year during the 30-year period through 2010, most of them between July and October, the Meteorological Agency said.
Typhoon Neoguri last month left at least three dead after passing over Kyushu and skirting the Pacific coast.