More than five million people were told to evacuate from their homes as Typhoon Shanshan lashed southwest Japan on Thursday. 

After hovering over the southerly Kyushu Island for the next few days, the storm is expected to approach Tokyo around the weekend. Strong winds and heavy rain knocked out power and forced major factories to close, and flights were also affected. Authorities warned Shanshan could be one of the strongest ever storms to hit the region, as they assessed the death toll and reported scores left injured.