Powerful typhoon slams into Japanese coast

TOKYO – The most powerful typhoon to barrel into Japan’s Pacific coastline in a decade made landfall today, unleashing gusts and torrential rains that grounded planes, flooded homes and triggered landslides. One person was dead and another missing.

The storm, dubbed “Ma-on” – or “horse saddle” in Cantonese – was the record eighth typhoon to reach Japan’s shores this year. On Friday, Meteorological Agency officials said the force of the tempest – which had sustained winds of 100 mph – was more potent than any other to hit the eastern coast in 10 years.

Hardest hit were the central states of Shizuoka and Aichi, where rainfall was heavy and gusts strong.

The agency forecast about 10 inches of rainfall through Sunday along the eastern seaboard of the main island of Honshu. It warned of possible landslides due to rain-soaked soil and high tides.

National Police Agency official Yasushi Hisashima said a 48-year-old man who went missing late Friday was found dead near his car on a valley road in the state of Wakayama.

A 74-year-old man delivering newspapers went missing, Hisashima said. He may have been swept away by floodwaters, media reports said.

Plane, train and ferry services were disrupted. Public broadcaster NHK said about 150 flights and many ferry services had been canceled.