Travel has been disrupted across Japan after one of the country’s strongest typhoons in decades hit on Thursday, leaving at least five people dead and many more injured.
Typhoon Shanshan packed gusts of up to 252 kilometres per hour as it smashed into Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu early Thursday, making it the most powerful storm this year and one of the strongest at landfall since 1960.
Shanshan has since been downgraded to a severe tropical storm but is still causing chaos with heavy rain and wind disrupting trains, expressways and flights throughout the country.
Japan’s largest airlines cancelled hundreds of flights on Friday.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) cancelled 346 domestic flights and Japan Airlines cancelled 287, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. ANA has already cancelled another 33 flights scheduled on Saturday.
Compare the Market spokesman Chris Ford advised Aussies in Japan to stay up to date with travel cancellations and follow instructions from local authorities, as well as get in contact with their insurance provider.
“If people have bought travel insurance before travelling to Japan, and they are in a safe place, contacting their travel insurance provider should be the next thing on their list,” Mr Ford told news.com.au.
“Especially if they need further assistance for things such as cancellation of pre-booked activities or securing emergency accommodation or earlier flights out of the country where needed.”
Mr Ford said the typhoon served as a reminder that travel insurance for natural disasters and weather-related emergencies is vital, but warned it may be too late for tourists already in Japan or on their way to take out cover.
“Natural disasters can quickly become a ‘known event’ to insurers. Insurers may not provide cover for events that aren’t considered unforeseen or unexpected,” he said.
“Many travel insurance policies can cover you up to a certain limit during a natural disaster or can provide cover if you purchase it as an extra inclusion.”
The Australian government’s Smart traveller website warns of “significant disruptions to transportation and services, including to travel across Kyushu, Okinawa, Shikoku and Kansai regions”.
It states high winds, heavy rain, landslides and storm surges are expected, urging Aussies to check their plans before they travel.
InsideJapan Tours said the Central Japan Railway Company had suspended Tokaido Shinkansen services on both the upper and lower lines between Mishima and Nagoya Stations on Friday.
“Our advice to Aussie travellers who were planning to travel along this line is to stay put, keep up to date with the latest information, and continue to follow the advice of local authorities,” an Inside Japan spokeswoman said, adding that their team was monitoring the situation on the ground and managing any changes to clients’ travel plans.
Melbourne-born tour company Intrepid Travel is also monitoring the storm closely as it has 20 trips on the ground this week.
“As extreme weather events become more common due to climate change, they’re challenging the way we travel,” Intrepid Travel Australia and New Zealand managing director Brett Mitchell told news.com.au.
“So far in 2024, 29 Intrepid trips have had to be rerouted or changed due to climate-related disasters, from bushfires in Australia leading to the closure of Grampians National Park, to heavy rainfall causing flooding in Bali.
“While this is a small percentage of our total overall trips (around 0.5 per cent), we expect to see an increase in the Northern Hemisphere over the summer months.”
japan is growing hugely in popularity among Australian travellers, rivalling other top overseas destinations like Bali, Indonesia.
In the first half of the year more than 460,000 Australians visited Japan, up 68 per cent on the same time last year, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Overall there were about 17.8 million foreign visitors to the country between January and June, compared to 10.7 million during the same six months last year – an increase of 66 per cent.
Typhoon Shanshan
Even before Typhoon Shanshanmade landfall on the island of Kyushu, a landslide caused by the heavy rains killed three members of the same family late Tuesday in Aichi prefecture, about 1000 kilometres away.
Two more people were reported to have died including a man last seen on a small boat in Kyushu and another whose two-storey home partially collapsed in Tokushima prefecture on the neighbouring island of Shikoku.
At least 81 others have been injured, including many hurt by broken glass after the typhoon smashed windows and ripped tiles off roofs when it slammed into Kyushu on Thursday with gusts up to 252 km/h.
Authorities issued their highest alert in several areas, with more than five million people advised to evacuate, although it was unclear how many did.
As far away as the town of Ninomiya near Tokyo, authorities urged residents to take “immediate measures” to secure safety such as moving to higher floors after a local river flooded.
Some parts of Kyushu saw record rains for August, with the town of Misato recording a staggering 791.5 millimetres in 48 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Power cuts hit more than 250,000 Kyushu households but the utility operator said Friday that only 6500 were still without electricity as engineers repaired damaged transmission lines.
Source: News.com.au
