A powerful typhoon smashed into disaster-ravaged Japan, having already killed at least four people, less than a month after a vicious storm left 100 dead.
Typhoon Roke, whose maximum speed was recorded at 216 kilometres (130 miles) per hour, made landfall near Hamamatsu, central Japan, at about 2:00pm on Wednesday (0500 GMT) and was on course to move northeast across the major island of Honshu.
More than a million people were initially warned to leave their homes over fears that the expected torrential rains will cause widespread flooding.
The typhoon comes just months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami sparked a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, where workers were frantically reinforcing the facility against the storm.
Four people have so far been found dead in central and western Japan, while two people are missing in the central prefecture of Gifu, including a young boy who disappeared on his way home from primary school.
Typhoon smashes into Japan, four already dead
