TOKYO – Japan is preparing for its second typhoon in a week, with airline companies canceling flights and rail operators halting some operations.

Typhoon Lan is forecast to make landfall on Tuesday in central Japan near Osaka, the country’s second-largest metropolitan area, triggering travel disruptions just as domestic travellers start to make their way home after an annual holiday break.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has called for precautions against heavy rain, mudslides and strong winds. 

Typhoons are becoming more frequent and severe, causing factories to halt production in addition to the usual disruptions to transportation. At least two people were killed in 2022 when a powerful system passed through Tokyo.

Much of Tokyo was already covered in rain and fog on Monday. 

A level 3 evacuation order – level 5 being the highest – was issued to some 26,000 elderly residents in a town in Wakayama prefecture due to concerns of heavy rains causing landslides, NHK reported. The Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka will be closed on Tuesday.

Japan’s two largest airline companies Japan Airlines (JAL) and ANA Holdings Inc announced flight disruptions, with JAL cancelling more than 250 flights for Monday and Tuesday. 

Regional operators of Japan’s high-speed trains Central Japan Railway and West Japan Railway said bullet trains will be partially suspended on Tuesday, and delays and suspensions were likely on Monday and Wednesday as well.

Central Japan Railway said service will be halted on Tuesday between Osaka and Nagoya. 

Toyota Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, Honda Motor and Suzuki Motor said operations will not be affected by the typhoon because their manufacturing plants are closed during the annual break.

As at Monday morning, Typhoon Lan was about 260km south-west of Japan’s Hachijojima Island and moving north-west, according to the JMA.

The storm, which is called Typhoon No. 7 in Japan, is packing maximum winds of about 144km per hour.

It is expected to make landfall on a path across the centre of Japan’s main island – a heavy industrial region with major automobile factories – before turning north towards Hokkaido. 

Less than a week ago, Typhoon Khanun rolled through the region, brushing past Japan on its way to South Korea, forcing auto-plant closings, hundreds of flight cancellations and power outages. BLOOMBERG