Typhoon bears down on Japan, flights cancelled

TOKYO, Aug 2 (Reuters) A powerful typhoon approached Japan's southern island of Kyushu today, bringing with it a warning of likely flooding and forcing the cancellation of 128 flights, broadcaster NHK said.

Typhoon Usagi, whose name means rabbit in Japanese, was about 190 km (118 miles) east of the tiny island of Tanegashima, about 1,000 km (621 miles) southwest of Tokyo at (0530 IST), the Meteorological Agency said.

Winds were gusting up to 234 km per hour (145 mph) close to the centre of the storm, which was moving north northwest at about 30 kph (19 mph), the agency said, as it warned of floods and high seas around southern Japan.

Usagi is expected to beat a path across the island of Kyushu and then change course to the northeast, fading into a tropical storm in the Sea of Japan before striking northern Japan at the weekend.

Last month Typhoon Man-yi killed three people and injured more than 70 in Kyushu.

REUTERS SAM BST0736