Devastating typhoon rips through Japan as two dead and tens of thousands without power

A man has died in a landslide and another has drowned with a terrifying typhoon lashing central Japan with torrential rain and ferocious winds.

Tens of thousands of households have also been left without power with Typhoon Talas ripping through towns and cities.

Shizuoka city, southwest of the capital Tokyo, was hit especially hard, seeing a record 417 mm (16.42 inches) of precipitation since the rain started on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

Winds at the centre of the Typhoon Talas were blowing at about 65 kph, with peak gusts of about 100 kph.

A man in his 40s was killed in a landslide and a 29-year-old man was found dead after his car plunged into a reservoir, Kyodo News reported.

Heavy rain has led to flooding and rivers breaking their banks (REUTERS)

Also in Shizuoka, rescue teams are searching for a man after a road collapsed - with a truck driver having managed to escape from his vehicle to safety, according to local media.

River levels are running high and some have broken their banks with social media showing people wading through streets.

Power was also cut to about 120,000 households, supplier Chubu Electric Power Grid Co said, adding that a landslide had knocked over two electricity pylons.

"We are expecting it may take some time to restore power due to landslides, among other factors," the company said on its Twitter account.

Central JR restarted some of its bullet train services, which had been suspended from Friday evening because of the rain.

A satellite image of the River Oyodo, at Miyazaki, with its water level extremely high (Planet Labs PBC/AFP via Getty Im)

Talas is the 15th named storm of the typhoon season, named by the JMA which has been caused by a tropical low pressure system of the seas south of Japan and has been heading northwards.

Although the JMA downgraded the typhoon to a extratropical cyclone on Saturday morning, it forecast further torrential rain in Shizuoka and urged caution for landslides and flooding.

Yokohama city, some 30 km south of Tokyo, also issued an evacuation advisory at about noon on Saturday to about 3,000 residents.

Typhoon Nanmadol, one of the biggest storms to hit Japan in years, killed four people and left 151 injured after it brought ferocious winds and record rainfall to the west of the country last weekend.