Typhoon Dujuan slammed Japan with 130 km/h sustained winds and gusts near 200 km/h, triggering evacuation orders for nearly two million people and leaving at least one resident believed buried alive.
Japan's Meteorological Agency warned of an "imminent threat to life" as the storm tore north along the country's Pacific coast, knocking out power to more than 50,000 people, cancelling hundreds of flights, and shutting down rail service across affected regions. The typhoon, Japan's 25th this year, brought punishing rain and triggered landslides that buried homes and trapped workers in multiple prefectures.
The scale of the disruption forced Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to reportedly delay a planned trip to the United States, where she had been scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump in New York and address the UN General Assembly. Instead, Takaichi stayed behind to monitor the storm's effects, a decision that underscores just how severe conditions on the ground became.
In Yokosuka City, south of Tokyo, a woman in her 60s may have been swept away by a landslide and is believed to have been buried alive, the Yokosuka City Fire Department told the BBC. Her status remained unconfirmed as the storm continued.
Elsewhere in Kanagawa prefecture, firefighters received a call from a man reporting that his house had been crushed by a landslide. No further details on his condition were immediately available.
In Sodegaura City in Chiba prefecture, a man in his 50s was rescued after getting trapped while clearing debris at a separate landslide site. The Sodegaura City Fire Department said the worker fell into a bamboo thicket along with heavy machinery and was taken to a hospital. His medical condition was not disclosed.
The full extent of the damage may not be known for days. Authorities advised the public to continue monitoring weather information even as the meteorological agency began downgrading some warnings.
By the time the agency began pulling back its most urgent alerts, level four landslide warnings remained in effect for Shinagawa Ward, Toshima Village, and Niijima Village. A danger-to-life warning also stayed in place for Oshima Town. Level three heavy-rain warnings had been lifted in most other areas, but conditions remained hazardous across wide stretches of the coast.
Dujuan packed sustained winds of 130 km/h, roughly 81 mph, with gusts reaching 194 km/h. Those numbers put it firmly in the category of storms capable of structural damage, uprooted trees, and deadly flooding.
The political ripple effects were immediate. Takaichi had been due in New York on Tuesday to sit down with Trump and deliver remarks at the UN General Assembly. Her decision to stay in Japan to oversee the government's response pushed the diplomatic schedule into limbo. Whether the trip has been rescheduled or cancelled outright was not clear from available reporting.
For an ally that has worked to deepen defense and trade ties with Washington, the delay is a practical inconvenience, not a diplomatic slight. But it illustrates how a single storm can scramble high-level international engagements with no notice.
Beyond the human toll, the typhoon shut down major public events. The Rock in Japan music festival cancelled its Monday concerts. The Tokyo Game Show, one of the world's largest video game conventions, scrapped its entire Monday programme. Hundreds of flights out of Haneda Airport and other hubs were grounded, and rail services across affected areas were suspended.
More than 50,000 people lost electricity. In Tokyo, pedestrians at the famous Shibuya crossing and commuters at Shinjuku station fought driving rain and wind. In Chiba, residents struggled just to hold umbrellas upright.
The BBC's reporting attributed the storm's unusual intensity in part to a "super El Niño" pattern warming the ocean and fueling typhoon formation. Whether that characterization originated with Japan's Meteorological Agency or with the outlet's own climate reporters was not specified.
Dujuan is Japan's 25th typhoon of the year, a staggering count that speaks to the relentless battering the island nation endures each storm season. Each one tests infrastructure, emergency response, and the willingness of officials to act decisively before the worst arrives. In this case, the nearly two million evacuation orders suggest the government took the threat seriously.
Still, confirmed casualty numbers remained incomplete as the storm moved through. One woman is believed buried alive. One worker was hospitalized. One home was reported crushed. Those are the cases that reached fire departments and made it into official channels. The real toll could be higher once rescue crews reach isolated areas.
When nature moves this fast, the only thing governments can control is how quickly they respond, and whether they have the infrastructure and planning in place to protect the people who cannot outrun the storm.
