Typhoon pummels Japanese isles, seen missing Tokyo

TOKYO, Sep 23 (Reuters) A powerful typhoon passed over a small group of Japanese islands today, but forecasters said the storm would veer further north into the Pacific and have little impact on Tokyo.

Typhoon Yagi, whose name means ''goat'' in Japanese, weakened to a Category four typhoon by late yesterday from a Category five, according to British-based Web site Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com), and was expected to weaken further today and tomorrow.

Japanese forecasters said the storm had winds of up to 162 km per hour, and at 11:40 a.m. 0810 ITS, the centre of the storm was about 200 km north of Chichijima, a subtropical resort island with a population of 2,000.

Television footage showed high waves pounding breakwaters in Chichijima. There were reports of blackouts, but none of injuries.

Yagi was moving north at 20 km per hour but was expected to start turning east tomorrow, after which it would start weakening sharply, an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

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

REUTERS BDP RN0910