The typhoon could make landfall on the main Japanese island of Honshu on Saturday, hitting the capital with up to 2 feet of rain, storm surge and winds up to 135 mph.
The storm is quickly approaching Hong Kong, where officials have warned residents to take shelter. Forecasts predict that the storm will weaken over land.
Officials and residents raced to prepare as the storm approached the northern part of the country. In 2013 typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people in the Philippines.