A strong typhoon, moving toward the Kii Peninsula in western Japan on the Pacific coast, is expected to make landfall Tuesday, with alerts issued for heavy rain and some railways and flights set to be canceled during the annual Bon summer holidays, the weather agency said.

Central Japan Railway Co. said Sunday all of its Tokaido Shinkansen services between Nagoya and Shin-Osaka stations will be suspended on Tuesday, while trains between Tokyo and Nagoya stations will be significantly reduced.

West Japan Railway Co. said it may cancel its Sanyo Shinkansen services between Shin-Osaka and Okayama stations on Tuesday.

Japan Airlines Co. said it is canceling 240 flights on Tuesday, mostly those to and from Itami airport in western Japan, affecting around 24,800 people.

On Monday, 19 flights, including those bound for Itami, will be canceled, JAL said.

As of 9 p.m. Sunday, Typhoon Lan was located at 300 kilometers south-southwest of Hachijo Island, part of the Izu island chain, roughly 100 km south of Tokyo, and moving northwest. It has an atmospheric pressure of 965 hectopascals and there are winds of up to 198 km per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

With heavy downpours expected from western to eastern Japan through Wednesday, the weather agency warned residents to stay vigilant over mudslide disasters and overflowing rivers.

"As the typhoon is moving slowly, its impact is feared to prolong," an agency official said.

The Kinki region, including Osaka in western Japan, and the Tokai region around Nagoya in central Japan could see rainfall exceeding the normal monthly total for August, the official warned.

The typhoon, after traversing the Japanese mainland, is expected to move northward through the Sea of Japan and could come close to Hokkaido in northern Japan around Thursday, according to the agency.

Rainfall of up to 400 to 600 millimeters is expected over the 24 hours from 6 p.m. Monday in the Tokai region and up to 300 to 400 mm in the Kinki region.

In addition to summer events around Tokyo, the rush of return holidaymakers has begun, with some opting to travel home from their Bon holidays earlier than planned.

Many people traveled for the summer break for the first time since COVID-19 was legally downgraded to the same category as seasonal flu.

==Kyodo

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