Specialist operator InsideJapan has issued a caution but is not cancelling trips after parts of the country were hit by one of the strongest typhoons in decades.
At least four people have reportedly been killed and more than 90 injured after Typhoon Shanshan made landfall in the country’s south-west. Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without power.
After making landfall in the southern island of Kyushu, the typhoon weakened to a severe tropical storm and moving north-east, bringing torrential rain and severe disruption to transport services.
Evacuation orders have been issued for more than 5.2 million residents in areas of southern and central Japan due to the risk of landslides or direct impacts from the storm.
Heavy rain and flooding may impact the Tokyo metropolitan area from September 3-5 as the storm dissipates and continues through eastern and potentially northern Honshu island.
The Foreign Office reiterated a travel alert for Japan, adding that the typhoon is expected to cause “significant disruption” across southern and central Japan from today (Friday) until September 2.
InsideJapan said: “On Friday 30 August, Central Japan Railway Co. announced the suspension of Tokaido Shinkansen services on both the upper and lower lines between Mishima and Nagoya stations throughout the day, due to the predicted forecast of heavy rain and strong winds.
“InsideJapan’s customer experience team is continuing to monitor the situation on the ground and are managing any logistical changes to affected clients with disruption expected to continue over the weekend.
“Along with enjoyment of their trip, the safety of clients is always top priority, and the customer experience team is there to ensure those priorities are fulfilled to the best of their ability.
“At this time, any InsideJapan customers due to visit Japan in the coming days should continue to do so, however, we continue to monitor local updates and follow any advice from government.”