Typhoon moves towards Japan, likely to miss Tokyo

TOKYO, Sep 22 (Reuters) A maximum-category typhoon was moving slowly towards Japan today, but forecasters said the powerful storm would veer further north into the Pacific and the impact on Tokyo would be slight.

Typhoon Yagi, whose name means ''goat'' in Japanese, is a Category 5 ''super typhoon'', according to British-based Web site Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com), but was expected to weaken to category 4 by early tomorrow.

Japanese forecasters said the storm had winds of up to 198 km per hour, although maximum winds speeds in category 5 typhoons are often much higher.

Forecasters said the remote island of Chichijima, about 1,000 km south of Tokyo, was likely to suffer extremely high winds and strong rains.

At 7 pm on Friday (1530 hrs IST), the centre of the storm was about 160 km south of Chichijima, a subtropical resort island with a population of 2,000.

The storm was also close to the uninhabited island of Iwo Jima, site of fierce fighting during World War Two.

Gusts of up to 115 km per hour were recorded on Chichijima, and television footage showed high waves pounding breakwaters, but an official at the island's town hall told NHK television there were no reports of damage.

He added the town was bracing for high waves, particularly in the morning when it was likely to coincide with high tide, and that some families had evacuated to emergency shelters.

Yagi was moving north-northwest at 20 kph but was expected to start turning east yesterday, after which it would start weakening sharply over cooler ocean waters, an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

''The impact of the storm on Tokyo is likely to be minimal -- some wind, but nothing particularly strong, and maybe a bit of light rain in some coastal areas,'' he added.

The storm follows Typhoon Shanshan, whose heavy rains and strong winds killed nine people and injured hundreds in southwestern Japan last weekend.

REUTERS DKA BD1715