Typhoon Shanshan made landfall in Japan on Thursday, August 29, and dropped a lot of rain, causing at least four fatalities and numerous injuries. It also forced aircraft and bullet train services to be suspended.
The storm made landfall in Kagoshima prefecture on Thursday morning and tore through the southwest Japanese island of Kyushu. As of Friday morning’s early hours, local media station NHK reported that at least four people had died, over ninety had been injured, and one person remained missing.
The country has been severely affected by Shanshan, the tenth typhoon of the year, which has caused widespread disruptions to transportation and economic operations due to its powerful winds and heavy rainfall.
In the past, Kokura Station, a significant hub for transportation in northern Kyushu’s Kitakyushu City, was always crowded with travelers. Now that Typhoon Shanshan has passed, almost all of the amenities here are closed.
All bullet trains on the Kyushu network and the Tokaido Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo Station and Shin-Osaka Station, were suspended by railway operators on Thursday. On Thursday and Friday, the West Kyushu Shinkansen also ceased operations.
The strong typhoon caused passengers on the Tokyo-Hiroshima rail route to be stuck on their train for about 13 hours. The train was ultimately canceled and sent back to Tokyo.
Two of the biggest airlines in the nation, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, have canceled 1,127 domestic flights that were supposed to depart on Thursday and Friday.
Local companies suffered as well. In Kyushu, almost all of the large supermarkets and retail stores have closed. Approximately 2,400 locations of Japan’s top three convenience store chains have been forced to close their doors in the prefectures of Kagoshima and Miyazaki alone. The impacts are being felt by the locals.
“I was aware of the impending storm, but I was unprepared for its extreme intensity. I have no idea where to get food now that the stores are closed. I’m planning to go back to Chiba on Saturday, but I’m terribly concerned that the storm may cause the Shinkansen train service to be suspended. It’s very bothersome,” a man said to CCTV.
As of 22:00 local time on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said that the center of the typhoon was moving northeast and was close to Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu.
On Friday, it is predicted to go across Kyushu, and on Saturday, it will move eastward toward the West Japan region. Over the next two days, it is anticipated that the typhoon’s effect region would become even larger.
