Powerful Typhoon Hinnamnor brought strong winds to Okinawa Prefecture on Thursday as it regained strength while moving near the island region.
The Meteorological Agency raised the classification of the storm to "violent" in the morning after downgrading it to "very strong" on Wednesday evening, warning of strong gusts and high tides in Okinawa.
The typhoon was expected to move slowly south of Okinawa before moving north and nearing the island prefecture again around Saturday and Sunday.
The agency forecast winds of up to 108 kph for Okinawa on Friday and up to 252 kph on Saturday, with swells of up to 7 meters on Friday and 10 meters on Saturday.
As of Thursday at noon, the typhoon was about 290 km south of Miyako Island, moving south-southwest at 20 kph. It had an atmospheric pressure of 920 hectopascals at its center and was packing winds of up to 270 kph, according to the agency.