Typhoon Dujuan triggers record rainfall warnings, mass evacuations across Japan

Typhoon Dujuan was bearing down on Japan's eastern coast on Monday with winds of 144 kilometers per hour, and the country's meteorological agency had issued its highest level of alert—a level 5 emergency warning—for the Izu Islands, cautioning residents of a "life-threatening situation" and ordering them to "ensure safety immediately." The storm arrived as Japan entered Silver Week, a five-day national holiday that typically draws millions of domestic travelers, and the timing meant the disruption would be felt across the entire country.

More than one million people had been placed under evacuation advisories by the time Dujuan drew within 110 kilometers of Hachijojima, one of Tokyo's most remote islands. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the storm could deliver record-breaking rainfall—enough to exceed the average monthly precipitation for September across central Japan and the Kanto region, which encompasses Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures. The agency specifically flagged the possibility of linear rain bands forming over these areas, a phenomenon that concentrates torrential downpours over narrow zones for hours at a time, dramatically raising the risk of flash floods and landslides.

The storm's approach had already begun reshaping daily life. Over 4,000 households in Chiba prefecture lost power as the system moved closer. Japan Airlines canceled 120 domestic flights and 15 international routes, while All Nippon Airways scrubbed 140 domestic flights from its schedule. Some railway services in Tokyo and neighboring areas were suspended. The Tokyo Game Show, one of the world's largest video game industry gatherings, shut down ahead of its final day. In Aichi prefecture, which is currently hosting the Asian Games, organizers postponed an equestrian eventing competition until Tuesday.

The Izu Islands and Chiba prefecture had already experienced heavy rainfall over the weekend, a preview of what the meteorological agency said could worsen rapidly as Dujuan passed close to the Tokyo metropolitan area later Monday. The agency's statement carried an unmistakable note of concern: the total rainfall expected through Tuesday could shatter September records, a threshold that carries real weight in a country accustomed to typhoons but increasingly vulnerable to their intensifying impacts.

For millions of Japanese travelers who had planned to use Silver Week for domestic trips, the storm's timing was particularly disruptive. The holiday week normally triggers a surge in movement across the country—trains packed, highways congested, hotels booked. Instead, evacuation orders and flight cancellations were forcing a different kind of movement: people leaving vulnerable areas, heading to shelters, staying put. The storm was still hours away from its closest approach to Tokyo, but the machinery of preparation—the warnings, the cancellations, the power outages, the evacuations—was already in full motion.