People planning to travel to meet with friends and family, relax at a beach resort, or head to a summer festival during the annual Bon holiday may be forced to change their plans due to storms approaching Japan.

Tropical Storm Khanun, which had logged typhoon wind-speeds before being downgraded, passed between the Kyushu region and South Korea earlier this week, pounding western Japan with rains well over August＊s typical rainfall.

The storm caused power outages, disruptions to trains, shinkansen services and flights, and several injuries. Warnings for flooding, landslides and high waves by the Meteorological Agency were still in place in western Japan on Thursday.

Typhoon Lan, meanwhile, was near the Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific on Thursday, with a forecast to make landfall on the archipelago early next week.

The bad weather comes at the worst time, when many are looking forward to a three-day weekend followed by the Bon holiday from Aug. 13 to 16.

Central Japan Railway and both announced Thursday that there is a chance the Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen lines would suspend their operations between Sunday and next Wednesday due to the approach of Typhoon Lan.

One hotel operator on the Ogasawara Islands said half of its reservations had been canceled ahead of the storm and that the village was considering opening evacuation sites when it approaches, according to NHK.

While whether is disrupting travel and transportation across the country, many summer festivals are scheduled to take place alongside the Bon holiday. Most have not made decisions to cancel.

Large-scale outdoor events planned during the weekend and next week include:

  • on Saturday
  • an annual music festival located in Chiba Prefecture, for three days from Friday
  • A series of through Monday
  • , taking place until Aug. 15
  • in Osaka Prefecture, taking place from Monday to Aug. 17 and on weekends until Aug. 27
  • in Fukuoka, taking place from Monday through Aug. 20

Organizers of the Jingu Gaien Fireworks Festival said that the event was currently scheduled to go ahead as planned. But that may change.

※It currently looks as though this area won＊t experience a huge impact, however we will continue watching the situation,§ a representative of the festival said Thursday.

Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise canceled its fireworks show from Friday through Monday due to the approaching typhoon.

Major travel agency JTB said that while more updates were sure to roll in regarding the progress of the storms this week, it hadn＊t seen mass cancellations of cross-country travel related to weather just yet.