During the night towards Saturday, Swedish time, the rain started pouring down over Tokyo. In Ichihara, outside Tokyo, four people were injured when a tornado pulled over the area.

This is the start of Hurricane Hagibis which is expected to pull in full force over the area later on Saturday morning.

Worst in 60 years

The weather is expected to bring wind speeds of 60 meters per second - and rainfall that has not been seen in the area since the fatal hurricane Ida pulled over the country in September 1958. At that time, more than 1200 people died in the wake of the storm.

This time, the country is better prepared. The airports echo empty and trains between Tokyo and Nagoya have been canceled. At the same time, the Formula 1 qualification has been postponed until Sunday and World Cup matches in rugby have been canceled. Even Disneyland in Tokyo remains closed all day - they have not done since 2011 when a massive earthquake, which later led to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, hit the area.

The shelves are gaping empty in Tokyo's grocery stores after residents hoarded ahead of the hurricane. Photo: Franck Fife / TT

"Quite apocalyptic"

Tokyo residents have been encouraged to stay indoors.

- We have taped all the big windows and made sure we have food and water at home, says Sophia Watanabe, a Swedish resident of Tokyo, to TT.

She continues:

- It was pretty apocalyptic yesterday when I went to shop after work. Many grocery stores ran out of water and bread. There were empty shelves in quite a few shops. People have really taken this very seriously and seem bunk,