{"id":131228,"date":"2026-08-14T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=131228"},"modified":"2026-08-14T18:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:32:10","slug":"thousands-stranded-as-heavy-rain-kills-at-least-5-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TOKYO(National Times)- At least five people died in eastern Japan after \u201cunprecedented\u201d heavy rain that left thousands stranded at Narita airport overnight and snarled up roads and rail services, authorities said on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The torrential downpours late on Thursday triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Chiba\u2019s rural parts, more than a dozen cars were left abandoned on low-lying roads, an AFP<\/em> journalist saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Narita, sleeping bags piled up as passengers slept all over the terminal, with massive lines forming for check-in across the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A traveller from the United Kingdom who gave his name as Philip told AFP<\/em> that he had to go through a nine-hour journey, including a taxi ride, before finally arriving at the airport early Friday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a sleeping bag in hand, he said he has \u201cjust been trying to get some sleep and watching Netflix\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust get on with it, really. Nothing else you can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Chiba\u2019s disaster management meeting convened on Friday afternoon, an official said five people were confirmed dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prefecture had previously said those killed included a man in his 60s or 70s found floating in a flooded road and a 66-year-old woman stuck in her submerged car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other fatalities were a man of unknown age who was found collapsed on the street, and a person of undetermined gender and age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public broadcaster NHK<\/em> reported as many as eight people may have died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, close to 26,000 households across Chiba prefecture were without power, the disaster management office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 80 houses flooded in cities such as Ichikawa, Kashiwa and Sakura. Additionlly, close to 90 homes saw water seeping in below the floorboards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d spend the night at the airport, but it is what it is and we are learning,\u201d one stranded air traveller told NHK<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re never going to forget this trip,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Trains cancelled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official told a news conference on Thursday that this was \u201cshaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 6,000 people were stranded overnight at Narita, one of two main airports serving Tokyo, with many trains to and from there cancelled until Friday afternoon, the Chiba disaster office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users on social media said that airport staff handed out free water, food and sleeping bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of people were also left stranded in Chiba station due to suspended train services, an AFP<\/em> journalist saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds spent the night in shelters in Chiba, NHK<\/em> reported, showing cars in water up to the headlights in Kashiwa city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis happened all of a sudden, so it was a complete surprise. The power is out, so I\u2019m worried whether I can open my business in the next couple of days,\u201d a woman in Chiba\u2019s Ichikawa city told NHK<\/em> on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The level-5 warnings of heavy rain were all downgraded to level-4 as of Friday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOKYO(National Times)- At least five people died in eastern Japan after \u201cunprecedented\u201d heavy rain that left thousands stranded at Narita airport overnight and snarled up roads and rail services, authorities said on Friday. The torrential downpours late on Thursday triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nThousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TOKYO(National Times)- At least five people died in eastern Japan after \u201cunprecedented\u201d heavy rain that left thousands stranded at Narita airport overnight and snarled up roads and rail services, authorities said on Friday. The torrential downpours late on Thursday triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T13:32:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T13:32:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/\",\"name\":\"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T13:32:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-14T13:32:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan - Nation","og_description":"TOKYO(National Times)- At least five people died in eastern Japan after \u201cunprecedented\u201d heavy rain that left thousands stranded at Narita airport overnight and snarled up roads and rail services, authorities said on Friday. The torrential downpours late on Thursday triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-08-14T13:32:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-14T13:32:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/","name":"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png","datePublished":"2026-08-14T13:32:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-14T13:32:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-33-1.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/131228\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thousands stranded as heavy rain kills at least 5 in Japan"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131230,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131228\/revisions\/131230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}