TOKYO: A powerful typhoon sped closer on Wednesday to mainland Japan, with the southern island of Kyushu bracing to be hit first.
Typhoon Usagi was about 1,100 kilometers south of Tokyo and expected to land on Kyushu on Friday morning before veering towards the most populous island of Honshu, the meteorological agency said.
Usagi, which means rabbit in Japanese, was accompanied by strong winds and was moving towards the northwest at nearly 30 kilometers an hour carrying gusts of 234 kilometers an hour.
The typhoon is expected to bring storms to much of western Japan, an agency official said.
The typhoon comes two weeks after Japan was hit by one of its most powerful typhoons in decades. Typhoon Man-yi killed three people, with one still unaccounted for.
