Typhoon Shanshan has soaked large swathes of Japan with torrential rain, prompting warnings for flooding and landslides hundreds of kilometres from the storm’s centre, halting travel services and shutting down major factories.

At least four people have been killed and 99 injured in storm-related incidents in recent days, according to the disaster management agency.

In the southwestern region of Kyushu, where the storm that authorities say could be one of the strongest ever to hit the region made landfall on Thursday, residents were surveying the damage after a night of heavy rain and severe winds.

Bringing gusts up to 180km/h, strong enough to blow over moving trucks, the typhoon was near the coastal city of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture on Friday afternoon and moving east, according to authorities.

About 250,000 households in seven prefectures were without power in Kyushu on Thursday, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co, but many had seen services restored on Friday.

The warm and moist air flowing around the typhoon brought record-breaking levels of rain in some areas far from the main storm, which authorities say is concerning given its slower than expected movement across the country.

Evacuation notices been issued to more than 3.3 million people nationwide, mostly in the hard-hit Kyushu area and central and eastern regions including the capital Tokyo and nearby Yokohama.

Authorities there warned of possible landslides and rivers bursting their banks due to the heavy rain.

Shizuoka, a major city in central Japan, has received more than 500 millimetres of rain in the past 72 hours, the highest volume since the weather agency began collecting the data in 1976.

The storm is expected to approach the central and eastern regions, which includes Tokyo, at the weekend and into early next week, the weather agency said.

Toyota has suspended operations in all of its domestic plants through Monday morning due to the storm.

Other auto makers Nissan and Honda, semiconductor firms Renesas and Tokyo Electron, and electronics giant Sony have also halted production at some factories.

Airlines, including ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines, announced cancellations of hundreds of domestic and some international flights.

Many ferry and rail services, including the bullet train between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya, were suspended on Friday.

Typhoon Shanshan is the latest harsh weather system to hit Japan, following Typhoon Ampil, which also led to blackouts and evacuations, earlier in August.

–AAP