A typhoon has hit Japan leaving at least two people dead and causing widespread disruption to coastal areas.

Winds of up to 125 km/h (79 mph) forced evacuation warnings for 7,000 people living in seafront homes on the main island of Honshu, and grounded a number of domestic and international flights.

The seas were too rough for ferry services

Typhoon Pabuk made landfall on Tuesday evening local time(1000GMT) at the town of Kushimoto in Wakayama prefecture, about 450km (279 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

The storm is expected to reach the Tokyo region on Wednesday morning, the Meteorological Agency said, though winds were dying down overnight.

Weather warning

Pabuk - a Laotian word for a large, freshwater fish - was moving northeast at about 10 km/h (6mph) causing heavy rain, violent winds and high tides. It was downgraded to a tropical storm after winds slowed to about 108km/h (67 mph)

Typhoons are defined as having minimum surface winds of at least 118 km/h (74 mph).

However, weather experts are still warning people to be on the alert.

"The typhoon is moving slowly and causing rainfall over a long period, making us concerned about damage from heavy rain in particular," said meteorologist Hiroshi Kurasawa.

Pabuk has already caused heavy rain in the capital, which was last hit by a typhoon 12 years ago.

Deaths

In southwestern Mie state, a 28-year-old railway worker was electrocuted while trying to clear branches that had fallen onto an overhead train cable.

The storm has caused heavy rain in Tokyo

"He was sent to a nearby hospital, but died later," said a spokesman for Kinki Nippon Railway.

In the central state of Aichi, a 66-year-old pottery factory worker died when he fell from the roof of the building when he tried to clear clogged rain gutters.

At least 16 other people were injured in typhoon-related accidents in western Japan, Kyodo news agency said. Television pictures showed deserted streets and corrugated sheeting being ripped from rooftops.

The Universal Studios theme park in Osaka was forced to close, some rail and ferry services were suspended and there were delays to bullet train services between Tokyo and Osaka.

The storm has also threatened Saturday's launch of Japan's new next-generation H-2A rocket.

A replacement part for a faulty valve must be flown in to Tanegashima from Honshu, but flights have been cancelled said officials at the National Space Development Agency of Japan.