AFP/Tokyo

Typhoon Halong slammed yesterday into western Japan, leaving dozens of people injured while the coastguard searched for a man who went missing apparently while surfing when the storm hit.
Halong was over the Sea of Japan (East Sea) as of 5pm (0800 GMT), some 60km northwest of the central city of Kanazawa, after making landfall on the largest and most populous island of Honshu.
Packing winds of up to 162kph, the typhoon was moving north-northeast at 40kph and expected to move away from the Japanese archipelago, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The weather agency lifted its highest warning for torrential rain at 5.15pm.
In southwestern Wakayama prefecture, a man who was apparently surfing on the Pacific coast went missing yesterday, local police said.
“According to a witness, a man in a wetsuit was seen drifting about 30 metres offshore and then disappeared,” said a local police spokesman.
The coastguard dispatched helicopters to the area, he said.
The storm injured at least 70 people throughout the country, public broadcaster NHK said.
Earlier, the typhoon barrelled into the main western island of Shikoku, with huge waves battering the coast.
It then hit Honshu near the city of Ako on the southwest coast, ripping through western Japan, the weather agency said.
On Honshu, the weather agency had earlier issued its highest warning - meaning a threat to life and the risk of massive damage - for Mie prefecture, some 300km west of Tokyo, warning that “unprecedented” torrential rain in the areas could trigger massive landslides or major floods.
Houses and rice paddies were submerged in a wide area of western Japan, mainly on Shikoku island, public broadcaster NHK said.
Television footage showed trees uprooted and electricity poles toppled due to the strong wind.
Local authorities, mainly in western Japan, issued evacuation advisories to more than 1.6mn people in total, NHK said.
More than 300 flights were to be cancelled yesterday due to the typhoon, which came just as Japan began its annual ‘Obon’ summer holiday, NHK said. On Saturday some 470 flights were grounded as the storm approached.