Tokyo Commuters Avoid Brunt of 'Very Strong' Typhoon Lan

(Bloomberg) -- Typhoon Lan, a powerful storm that drenched most of Japan with rain Sunday, weakened as it passed Tokyo, causing little disruption to commuters Monday morning.

The typhoon was located about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northeast of Tokyo as of 7 a.m. local time and expected to move off Japan’s Pacific coast by noon, according to projections by the Japan Meteorological Agency. While people traveling into the city from areas outside of Tokyo were experiencing some delays, the train service provided by East Japan Railway Co. and Tokyo Metro was largely unaffected.

Toyota Motor Corp. canceled shifts at its auto plants due to the approaching storm while the nation’s biggest carriers ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. have pulled hundreds of domestic flights, affecting more than 20,000 passengers.

Authorities warned of landslides, flooding and the potential for rivers to burst their banks due to heavy rain. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on local authorities to prepare for evacuations, and for the nation’s Self Defense Forces to be on standby to assist.

The typhoon had been feared to drag down the turnout of Japan’s lower house election held on Sunday, though Kyodo reported after polls closed that the turnout could exceed the previous vote by 1 percentage point.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gearoid Reidy in Tokyo at greidy1@bloomberg.net, Lily Nonomiya in Tokyo at lnonomiya@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kazunori Takada at ktakada17@bloomberg.net, Colin Keatinge