Japan issued an emergency warning as it braced for a powerful typhoon as it slowly approached the southwest of the country, threatening to bring heavy rain and strong winds.

Typhoon Shanshan was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the southern island of Yakushima on Wednesday morning as it headed north towards Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu with winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

The agency said the typhoon is expected to reach the southern part of Kyushu and make landfall on Thursday. JMA issued a high-level warning for the Kagoshima prefecture of strong winds, high waves and tides as well as heavy rain.

Even ahead of landfall, the typhoon has begun dumping rain on southern Japan.

Southern Kyushu is expected to receive 500 millimeters (19.6 inches) of rain in the 24 hours through Thursday morning and 600 millimeters in the 24 hours through Friday morning, the JMA added.

Over 800,000 residents ordered to evacuate

Authorities issued evacuation orders for more than 800,000 residents in the Kagoshima prefecture of Kyushu and in the central prefectures of Aichi and Shizuoka.

In Aichi, two presumed occupants of a house that collapsed in a landslide during heavy rains were missing. Three residents of the house were rescued, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Shanshan is expected to approach the central and eastern regions, including the capital, Tokyo, around the weekend, the JMA said.

Airlines cancel some flights

Airlines and rail operators canceled some services over the next few days. Kyushu Railway said it would suspend some Shinkansen bullet train services between Kumamoto and Kagoshima Chuo from Wednesday night and warned of further possible disruptions.

ANA Holdings said it would cancel a total of more than 210 domestic flights scheduled to depart or arrive in southwestern Japan between Wednesday and Friday, affecting about 18,400 passengers.

Japan Airlines said it would cancel 170 domestic flights through Thursday. A total of 10 international flights operated by both airlines will also be suspended.

Toyota halts plant operations in Japan

Automaker Toyota said it is suspending production at all of its plants in Japan because of an approaching typhoon.

Some 28 production lines at 14 group companies will cease operations from Wednesday afternoon. One line at truck maker Hino Motors will resume operations on Thursday morning, the company's spokesman added.

Mazda Motor says it also plans to suspend operations at its Hiroshima and Hofu plants, both in western Japan, from
Thursday evening through Friday.
Typhoon Shanshan is the latest severe weather to hit Japan, following last week's Typhoon Ampil, which also caused power outages and evacuations.

dh/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)