A woman in her 60s died after her car became submerged at an underpass in Iwaki, northeastern Japan, as torrential rain swept the country, Kyodo News reported on September 7.

The Japan Meteorological Agency urged maximum vigilance against landslides on the islands of Niijima, Oshima and Toshima, south of Tokyo, after warm, moist air flowed into a weather front stretching near the southern coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. More than 580 millimetres of rain fell on Oshima over 24 hours, the highest September figure since local records began, prompting a special landslide warning for the island.

The woman was found unresponsive in the submerged vehicle in Fukushima Prefecture and later declared dead, according to the local fire department. Two people sustained minor injuries after falling during the downpour in Chiba, the prefectural government said.

Rain battered eastern Japan, including Tokyo, from the early hours of the morning, disrupting rail services and forcing school closures. A level 4 landslide alert on the five-point scale was issued for parts of Chiba and Saitama prefectures, which border the capital.

Railway operators said service suspensions affected more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with passengers advised to check the latest information. Major lines in the capital, including the Yamanote loop line, cut services by around 20% to 30% from normal levels in the early morning.

The education ministry said 3,661 educational institutions, from primary schools to universities, were closed across 11 prefectures as of midday. Chiba recorded the largest number of closures at 894, followed by Tokyo with 739, Kanagawa with 646, Fukushima with 454 and Tochigi with 358.