Evacuation advisories issued as heavy rain pounds wide area of Japan

TOKYO — Heavy rain hit a wide area on the Pacific side of the Japanese archipelago Wednesday (June 21), with local authorities temporarily issuing evacuation advisories for over 360,000 people in central Japan due to possible flooding.

The torrential rain was due to a low-pressure system coupled with the rainy season front, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Heavy rain and strong winds disrupted some railway services, including sections of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.

The body of a woman in her 60s was found in the sea off the city of Kaizuka in Osaka Prefecture on Wednesday morning. The woman’s bicycle, believed to have been used for her newspaper deliveries, was left near a flooded river in the city and police suspect she was washed away.

The towns of Shirahama and Kozagawa in Wakayama Prefecture saw record downpours of over 80mm per hour. The total amount of rainfall exceeded 100mm in wide areas of the southwestern main island of Kyushu as well as western and central Japan.

The Hamamatsu city government in Shizuoka Prefecture issued an evacuation advisory for 367,240 residents in 136,311 households due to the possible flooding of the Tsuribashi River.

Evacuation advisories were also issued for other areas in Shizuoka, as well as in Mie and Wakayama prefectures.

The agency also announced that the rainy season appears to have started in the Hokuriku region on the Sea of Japan coast and the Tohoku region in northern Japan, meaning this year’s rainy season has been declared in all parts of the country apart from Hokkaido, which does not experience a rainy season. KYODO