Typhoon Namtheum hit Kochi prefecture in the Shikoku region, 600 kilometers (375 miles) southwest of the capital Tokyo, shortly after 4:00 pm (0700 GMT), the agency said.

It was moving northwest at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour and packing a maximum wind speed of 126 kilometers per hour, it said.

Weather and emergency officials issued warnings for possible landslides and other natural disasters in Shikoku and the Chugoku and Kyushu regions, also likely to be touched by the typhoon as it heads towards South Korea.

In the 24 hours to 3:00 pm Sunday, the agency expected the regions to see rainfall of up to 500 millimeters (nearly 20 inches).

There were no reports of major injuries because of the storm.

In Hyogo prefecture, 450 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, strong wind blew a canopy off an office building and an 86-year-old building manager broke his nose in the accident, police said.

The storm forced more than some 127 domestic flights to be cancelled, national broadcaster Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) said.

Other major media reported dozens of people in the Shikoku region had voluntarily evacuated their houses and left for schools and other temporary shelters.

TERRA.WIRE