Typhoon Dujuan Leaves Four Dead, Six Missing After Torrential Rain Hits Japan

Typhoon Dujuan has left at least four people dead and six others missing after torrential rain triggered landslides and flooding across eastern Japan, including areas around Tokyo. The storm, Japan’s 25th typhoon of the year, has now moved away from the country’s eastern coast.

The deaths were recorded in Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, where emergency crews continued searching areas hit by landslides. In Yokosuka, Kanagawa, a woman in her 60s was found dead after a landslide destroyed the house where she lived.

The storm brought record-breaking rainfall to parts of the Tokyo region. Oshima recorded 832mm of rain over 48 hours, while Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward recorded a record 282.5mm in 24 hours, according to reports.

Dujuan also caused widespread disruption to electricity and transport. More than 45,000 households in Chiba were still without power on Tuesday, while hundreds of flights and rail services were affected as the storm swept through the region.

At the height of the storm on Monday, Japanese authorities warned of an “imminent threat to life” and urged about 1.9 million people to move to safer locations. Most evacuation and weather warnings were later lifted or downgraded as the typhoon moved northeast into the Pacific.

The storm also disrupted major events during Japan’s five-day holiday period. The Monday programme of the Tokyo Game Show was cancelled, while concerts at the Rock in Japan music festival were also called off because of the dangerous weather.

Japan has experienced a series of powerful storms this season. Scientists say warmer ocean and atmospheric conditions can make individual storms more intense, allowing them to carry more moisture and produce heavier rainfall, although climate change does not necessarily increase the overall number of typhoons globally.

Rescue and damage-assessment operations were continuing on Tuesday as Dujuan moved farther away from Japan. Authorities were still assessing the full extent of the destruction caused by the rainfall, flooding and landslides.