The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe warning for heavy rain in more than a dozen municipalities in Chiba prefecture as rain subsided Friday morning but forecast more rain later in the day.
Photos and television footage showed widespread damage after daylight, with homes, cars and parts of railway tracks flooded with muddy water.
The Ground Self Defense Force said it dispatched buses to pick up about 4,000 stranded people who stayed overnight at the Soga train station, a local route that also serves Tokyo Disney. The theme park did not report any damage.
Record-breaking torrential rain floods a road, causing a car to stall, in Ichikawa, Chiba prefecture, Japan, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. Photo by AP
Thousands more people were stuck at the Narita airport serving the Tokyo region, with trains out of the area stopped. Hundreds of people took shelter overnight at the Chiba prefectural government building.
