TOKYO (AFP) - Floods and landslides following torrential rain in western Japan have killed at least two people and prompted one city to advise more than 80,000 people to flee their homes, officials said on Sunday.

One man was confirmed dead in Kyoto city early on Sunday after he was swept away by a flooded river while trying to build a sandbag barrier, Kyoto prefectural officials said.

In nearby Ishikawa prefecture, the body of a 74-year-old woman was pulled from her house after a landslide, national broadcaster NHK said.

Western and central Japan were Sunday still being battered by heavy rain that started Friday. Fukuchiyama City in Kyoto prefecture experienced rainfall of 303mm during the 24 hours to early Sunday, a record for the city, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The municipality issued an evacuation advisory - a recommendation that is different from an order to evacuate - to all 80,860 residents, as major parts of the city were submerged by waist-high water.

Heavy rain was expected to continue through Monday in western to central Japan.

A landslide at Tamba city in Hyogo prefecture near Kyoto destroyed a house where a 73-year-old female resident was rescued Sunday.

A search was continuing for her 79-year-old husband, NHK said.

Police in the central prefecture of Gifu found two of three climbers who had been swept away by a flooded river in the Hida Mountains, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

Their condition was not immediately known.