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Typhoon Halong is lashing Japan as it enters a holiday week, injuring six people and causing authorities to order the evacuation of half a million people near swollen rivers. Photo: AP

Japan orders 1.6m to flee Typhoon Halong; one dead, travel chaos

Typhoon Halong killed one person in Japan on Sunday and injured 33, media said, as authorities ordered 1.6 million people out of the path of the storm that battered the west of the country with heavy rain and wind.

Authorities issued the highest typhoon alert and landslide warnings as the storm dumped a metre of rain in an hour, and caused widespread disruption to travel at the beginning of the summer holiday season.

Watch: Typhoon Halong slams into Japan's western main island

One man was washed away in an overflowing river in Gifu prefecture and died later in hospital, while a surfer was missing off the coast of Wakayama prefecture, the NHK national broadcaster said, adding that 33 people had been injured.

More than 200 flights were cancelled and some bullet trains suspended services, leaving people setting off for "o-bon" summer holidays stranded at airports and stations.

The strong typhoon made landfall near Aki, Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku island at around 6am, an official at the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Television footage showed high waves triggered by the typhoon splashing over breakwaters and muddy torrents roaring down a swollen river.

At least 143 more flights will be cancelled on Sunday due to the typhoon, which came as Japan had just begun its annual “Obon” summer holiday, NHK said.

Halong comes a month after Typhoon Neoguri killed several people and left a trail of destruction in southern Japan.

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