Tens of thousands of people across Japan are advised to evacuate, hundreds of flights were cancelled and train services disrupted on election day today as a typhoon roared towards the coast, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. Typhoon Lan, classified as an intense Category 4 storm by the Tropical Storm Risk monitoring site, was south of Japan and moving northeast at 50 kilometers per hour. Lan appeared to have weakened slightly from its peak, but it is still a powerful storm that could pound parts of Japan with more than 80 mm of rain an hour. It is set to make landfall on Japan's main island of Honshu, possibly near Tokyo, early tomorrow, at which time it is likely to have weakened to a Category 2 storm.<br/><br/>More than 70,000 households in various parts of Japan were advised to evacuate. Several small landslides had occurred and rivers are rising close to the top of their banks. <br/><br/>Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that he had called on the government to take steps to minimise any threats to life.