Heavy rain hits south-west Japan, prompting warnings of landslides
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Heavy rain brought about severe tropical storm Jangmi in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, on June 3.
PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO – Heavy rain hit southern Kyushu in Japan on June 7, prompting the weather agency to warn of possible landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and swollen or overflowing rivers.
Linear rainbands – zones of heavy rain clouds that form in succession over the same area – developed in Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures through late on the morning of June 7, sharply increasing the risk of disasters, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Atmospheric conditions are likely to remain highly unstable across western Japan, with Shikoku, one of Japan’s four main islands, also possibly facing rainfall heavy enough to trigger warnings, it added.
According to the agency, a weather front is extending from the Chinese mainland through the Nansei Islands in south-western Japan to the south of the country, while a low-pressure system over the East China Sea along the front is moving east-north-east.
Warm, moist air is flowing towards the front and low-pressure system, causing heavy rain with thunder in parts of western Japan and the Nansei Islands.
By early June 8, rainfall in the 24-hour period is expected to reach up to 300mm in Shikoku, and 150mm in southern Kyushu and the Amami region.
The agency said on June 7 that the Tokai region in central Japan and the Kanto-Koshin region including Tokyo, both on the main island of Honshu, appear to have entered the rainy season, which typically ends there in mid- to late July.
The rainy season is believed to have begun one day later than usual in Tokai, and 21 days later than in 2025.
In Kanto-Koshin, it started around the usual date, but 16 days later than a year earlier, the agency said. KYODO NEWS
