This time of year is one of the busiest travel seasons within Japan as Obon summer holidays are underway. Unfortunately, it looks like the weather could be disrupting travel plans, as there’s a typhoon heading towards the eastern side of Japan's main island – including Tokyo.
As reported by NHK World Japan, typhoon Ampil is strengthening as it moves north. According to the report, it’s likely to approach eastern Japan between Friday August 16 and Saturday August 17.
So far, JR Tokai has stated that it will cancel all services on the Tokaido shinkansen between Tokyo and Nagoya on Friday. Additionally, JR East has warned that there might be possible suspensions and delays on Friday from around noon through evening on several lines including the Tohoku, Joetsu, Hokuriku, Akita and Yamagata shinkansen.
For updates on all the shinkansen service suspensions, follow the latest news on JR East X (Twitter) account and the JR Tokai X (Twitter) account.
As for air travel, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines have stated that they will be cancelling approximately 500 flights on Friday to and from Haneda and Narita airports. ANA has also shared that there may be some delays or other impacts on August 17 flights as well.
Updates for ANA can be found here and for Japan Airlines here.
To see how you can prepare for a typhoon, visit our guide here.
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