Tens of thousands of people have been asked to evacuate in Tokyo as Shanshan, now a tropical storm, continued its northward march across the country.
Six people have died and dozens were injured as the storm made landfall as a typhoon on Thursday, one of the most powerful to hit the country’s southwest in decades.
An 80-year-old man and a man whose roof fell on him are the latest to be reported dead in the storm, after three died in landslides earlier.
The storm was moving slowly toward the northeast at the speed of 10km/h, and is expected to reach Tokyo by the weekend.
It was near Kunisaki in Oita Prefecture as of Friday morning, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 72km/h and gusts reaching up to 108km/h.
Some areas have already seen record rainfall totals with key rivers swelling up, prompting flooding fears.
Three rivers in Tokyo — Meguro, Nogawa and Sengawa — are under a Level 4 warning issued by the weather agency.
Several train lines are still impacted and many cities are under emergency alerts.
