(Corrects location of Shizuoka Prefecture to west of Tokyo, not east, in final paragraph)
TOKYO, June 3 (Reuters) – Severe tropical storm Jangmi ripped across Japan on Wednesday morning, with fierce winds and torrential rain disrupting transport and businesses, and knocking out power for tens of thousands of homes.
The storm’s centre lay off the central, main island of Honshu, tracking northeast towards the greater Tokyo region with maximum sustained winds of up to 25 metres (82 feet) per second, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said, adding that some areas along the Pacific coast are at an increasing risk of “life-threatening disasters”.
The storm, with a central pressure of 980 hPa, has cut power to nearly 60,000 households so far, government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said during a regular press briefing.
“If you sense any danger, please do not hesitate to take early action to protect your lives,” Kihara said.
Evacuation advisories were issued to hundreds of thousands of residents in eight prefectures across southwestern, central and eastern Japan.
Airlines including Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways had cancelled nearly 900 international and domestic services on Wednesday morning.
Some bullet train services in Kyushu, in the southwest, and areas of western Japan were delayed, while East Japan Railway said that some rail services in the Tokyo area were suspended and more could be affected over the course of the day.
Bracing for severe weather conditions, Toyota Motor said on Tuesday that it would suspend operations at 13 domestic plants on Wednesday morning. Suzuki Motor is also halting work at all five plants in Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo, in the morning.
(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura; Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Kevin Buckland)
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