The weather agency warned of strong winds and high waves in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, as Typhoon Melor headed out into the Pacific Ocean after cutting a swathe across the archipelago.

The latest victims were a 63-year-old salmon farmer in northern Japan who apparently drowned and a 61-year-old man who fell while repairing his roof in strong winds north of Tokyo, local government officials said.

The typhoon, the first to make landfall in Japan since 2007, damaged homes, toppled trees and caused travel chaos on the main island of Honshu on Thursday.

Residents began removing debris and repairing houses in areas including Tsuchiura, north of Tokyo, where a tornado unleashed by the typhoon destroyed a local post office, toppled power poles and shattered windows.

The storm, packing gusts of up to 144 kilometres (89 miles) an hour on Friday, was likely to be downgraded to a tropical depression later in the day as it moved north along Russia's Kuril island chain, the weather agency said.

The typhoon was not as devastating as some had feared. On Wednesday forecasters had described it as one of the worst storms to threaten the country in the past decade.

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