Tropical storm dumps rain on northern Japan

Rifu (Japan): A tropical storm dumped rain in parts of northern Japan on Wednesday after moving away from the Tokyo region and relieving the Olympic host city of a feared disruption to the games.

In Sendai, some trains were delayed and pedestrians braced themselves against the wind on the city streets.

Tropical Storm Nepartak has caused no damage so far, but the Japan Meteorological Agency urged residents to take caution against mudslides. The storm had winds of 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph) and was expected to weaken and move off the western coast of Akita by Wednesday night. The season's eighth typhoon for Japan was near the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture on Wednesday morning, the agency said. Ishinomaki is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of Tokyo.