Hundreds of flight and train cancellations are expected in Japan these days due to the expected arrival of Typhoon Lan. The railway company JR Central announced that the Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed line will be totally suspended on Tuesday between Nagoya and Shin-Osaka stations (in the west), and JR West warned that the section between Shin- Osaka and Okayama. The number of trains that will cover the section between Tokyo and Nagoya will be significantly reduced. Japan Airlines (JAL), announced the suspension of 19 flights to or from Itami today and another 240 flights were canceled on Tuesday, affecting an estimated 24,800 travellers.
The typhoon brings gusts of wind up to 198 km/h and today it has already left rain in large regions of the island of Shikoku and in the Kanto region, on the island of Honshu, where Tokyo is located. The approach of the typhoon to Japan coincided with the closure of the Obon holiday period, in which the dead are remembered and during which there is a large number of movements of people traveling to reunite with their families.
Yesterday train stations, airports and highways were congested as many chose to return earlier due to Lan’s arrival and foreseeable disruption. Lan arrives shortly after the passage of typhoon Khanun, which in the last two weeks has hit the southwest of the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula, causing extensive flooding, extensive material damage and several deaths.