Typhoon off southern Japan, heavy rain expected nationwide

TOKYO – A slow-moving typhoon off Japan’s southern coast has triggered gusts and rain across a large part of the country and could bring heavy rains to the Tokyo region through early next week, though it was not expected to make landfall, officials said Friday.

Disaster officials, nevertheless, urged residents to take precautions early.

Typhoon Chan-hom was south of Japan’s Shikoku island Friday afternoon with maximum winds of 126 kilometres (78 miles) per hour, the Meteorological Agency said.

The agency said Chan-hom took a route farther from the Japanese coast than expected and was not expected to make a landfall.

Disaster management minister Hachiro Okonogi urged residents to prepare early for high waves and possible flooding from the storm and avoid non-essential outings.

Dozens of weekend domestic flights in southwestern Japan were cancelled.