Powerful Typhoon Phanfone, approaching Tokyo from the south Saturday, may come close to the capital on Monday afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
As of 3 p.m. Saturday, the season's 13th typhoon was 420 km west-northwest of Chichijima, which is about 1,000 km south of Tokyo. It was moving northwest at 20 kph.
It is expected to decrease slightly in strength and reach an area around 300 km west-southwest of Hachijojima, 290 km south of Tokyo, around 3 p.m. Sunday. It is then likely to turn eastward and travel at a slower pace.
The typhoon may reach areas facing the Pacific between the Kii Peninsula in western Japan and the Boso Peninsula, southeast of the capital, on Monday afternoon if it follows a northerly course.
It is likely to pass the eastern side of the Boso Peninsula on Tuesday afternoon after picking up speed, the agency said.
The storm has an atmospheric pressure of 945 hectopascals and is packing winds of up to 144 kph near its center.
The storm zone, with winds of more than 90 kph, extends 130 km northeast and 90 km southwest from the eye of the typhoon.
The name Phanfone means "animal" in Laotian.