Eighty-one people are now confirmed to have died with dozens more missing after torrential rainfall and landslides hit western Japan.
However, it is the speed at which the rain moved in that has caught authorities off guard.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reuters reports that more than 54,000 rescuers from the military, police and fire departments were dispatched across a wide swath of western and southwestern Japan, with the country’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, warning that rescue workers faced a “race against time”.
In hard-hit western Japan, emergency services and military personnel used helicopters and boats to rescue people from swollen rivers and buildings, including a hospital, with some patients lifted out still in their pyjamas. Bullet train services have also been suspended in most parts of western Japan.
Evacuation orders are in place for nearly 2 million people, with 276,000 households without water and TV footage showing supermarkets with bare shelves in many affected regions.
With many people still missing, the final death toll is expected to exceed the 98 people killed in a typhoon in 2004.
-
Saudi Arabia could become an AI focal pointUnder the Radar A state-backed AI project hopes to rival China and the United States
-
What you need to know about last-minute travelThe Week Recommends You can book an awesome trip with a moment’s notice
-
Codeword: October 29, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
US and Japan strike trade dealSpeed Read Trump signed what he's calling the 'largest deal ever made'
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
