The highest emergency alert is in place for the western prefectures of Saga, Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Hiroshima.
Weather officials are calling on residents to be ready for possible disasters including landslides and flooding. They say people should do whatever is necessary to protect themselves.
The Meteorological Agency says a band of rainclouds over the northern Kyushu, Chugoku and Tokai regions and Nagano prefecture is dumping record amounts of rain.
The agency’s highest-level alert means people in affected areas should do everything possible to stay safe.
If going outside is too dangerous, they should move to the safest place in the building where they currently are. That could be a higher floor or a room that’s furthest from any nearby hill or slope.
On Saturday afternoon, Takeo City in Saga Prefecture recorded 60 millimeters of rain in just one hour. An overflowing river in the city has flooded residential areas.
A level 5 evacuation warning — the highest possible alert — is now in place for more than 1.8 million people across 7 prefectures.
In Kyoto City, western Japan, about 8 meters of an embankment under a house near the approach to Kiyomizu Temple collapsed due to heavy rain.
The local fire department says about 40 people had to be evacuated after a gas leak was detected.
Weather officials say the low pressure system along the rainfront will likely move from western to eastern Japan through Sunday night, bringing heavy rainfall to wider areas.
They are urging people to exercise extreme caution for landslides and swollen rivers and to be on guard for flooding in low-lying areas, warning that a once-in-decade disaster could happen.
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