Japan's southwestern islands brace for powerful Typhoon Bavi's approach

Japan’s southwestern Sakishima Islands went on high alert Friday as Typhoon Bavi approached Okinawa Prefecture, with officials warning of violent winds, torrential rain, landslides and flooding. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the storm was expected to come closest to the islands from early to late morning Saturday, July 11, and to remain severe as it neared Okinawa.

On Ishigaki, a popular tourist destination that also hosts a Japanese army base, residents taped up windows, fitted windproof nets and stocked supplies as the storm tightened its approach. The island sits in the exposed southwestern chain that often takes the first hit from typhoons moving north through the Pacific, and the coming shutdowns quickly reached the travel network that serves the islands.

Japan Airlines canceled 48 domestic flights and two international flights scheduled for Friday, affecting about 7,610 passengers. All Nippon Airways canceled 34 flights and said about 1,800 passengers were affected. JAL said many domestic flights arriving at and departing from Okinawa Naha airport were canceled because of the typhoon, underscoring how quickly island air links can be severed when weather turns severe.

Bavi has already shown the scale that has put officials on alert across the region. The storm struck Guam and the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands at Category 5 intensity before tracking westward toward Taiwan and China. Forecasters in Taiwan said storms of Bavi’s size were rare, and one warned it could be the largest storm by size to hit Taiwan since 1987 if the forecast held.

That size matters. One Reuters-derived report put Bavi’s widest point at about 1,000 kilometers, roughly the width of France, a broad wind field that can bring disruption far from the eye itself. The storm was forecast to skirt northern Taiwan before making landfall in China’s eastern Fujian province, adding another stretch of coastline, ports and transport routes to the list of places under pressure.

The pattern exposed by Bavi is familiar across Japan’s southwestern island chain: tourism, air travel, military logistics and local supplies can all be knocked off balance by a single powerful typhoon. Authorities on Ishigaki and the wider Sakishima chain moved early to brace for impact, but the flight cancellations, boarded windows and hurried shopping showed how little margin remains when a storm of this size turns toward Okinawa.