Typhoon Nanmadol bore down on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu on Sunday with the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warning of gales and high waves "like never experienced before".
The 14th typhoon of the season, classified as a super typhoon by the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, could bring record rainfall, the JMA said, warning of the risk of rivers overflowing and landslides.
Southern Kyushu could receive 500 mm (20 inches) of rain and wind gusts of up to 250 km (155 miles) per hour on Sunday, while the central Tokai region could get 300 mm (12 inches) of rain, the agency forecast.
High winds caused damage including downing a bus stop in Miyazaki prefecture, southern Kyushu, according to footage carried by public broadcaster NHK.
Railway operators have cancelled trains and convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan temporarily shut around 950 stores. Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T said it will idle production at three factories on Monday.
The storm is forecast to curve east and pass over Japan's main island of Honshu before moving out to sea by Wednesday. Heavy rain lashed the capital Tokyo, with operation of the Tozai subway line suspended due to flooding.
US President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war by attacking energy and desalination facilities in the Gulf, a potential widening of hostilities that could deepen a regional crisis and add to concerns in global markets.
An Israeli airstrike on a police vehicle on Sunday killed three people in the middle of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, health officials said, hours after another person was killed in a strike on northern Gaza.
The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to "Iran's enemies", Iran's representative to the UN maritime agency was quoted as saying in Iranian media reports published on Sunday.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has renewed its condemnation of continued Iranian attacks on member states, including the targeting of infrastructure and oil facilities, in flagrant violation of international law and a direct threat to regional security, stability and the safety of global energy supplies.