Typhoon Dujuan kills two in Japan, causes travel chaos near Tokyo

Typhoon Dujuan moved northeast off Japan’s eastern coast into the Pacific on Tuesday after battering areas near Tokyo with strong winds and heavy rain. Local authorities told Kyodo News that two people have died, and evacuation advisories were issued for more than 1.6 million residents as the storm passed through. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said Dujuan’s winds reached about 144 km/h (89 mph) when the system was located roughly 130 km (80 miles) south of Katsuura on Monday.

The storm caused widespread transport disruption around the capital. Airlines grounded dozens of services: Japan Airlines cancelled 135 flights and All Nippon Airways scrapped 140 on Monday, and some rail services including bullet train runs between Tokyo and Osaka were suspended by Japan Railways. Passengers were left stranded at airports as the typhoon moved through the region.

Heavy rainfall produced flooding and landslides in multiple localities. Social media and local officials reported inundated streets in front of Kamakura station and floodwater in parts of Ichikawa east of Tokyo; Kamakura’s mayor warned that driving was dangerous because of widespread flooding. The JMA cautioned that rainfall could continue as the storm moved north and warned the total precipitation through Tuesday might exceed the average monthly total for September, raising the prospect of record-breaking rains in affected areas.

Dujuan also forced cancellations and early closures of major public events. Organisers shut down the final day of the Tokyo Game Show early, and a large outdoor music festival and a baseball game in Chiba were cancelled. By early Tuesday the JMA said the typhoon had begun heading northeast toward the Aleutian Islands with slightly diminished winds. Dujuan is the 25th typhoon to affect Japan so far this year, a country that regularly faces strong storms in late summer and early autumn.