Japan is being battered by Typhoon Melor, the worst typhoon to strike the island nation in a decade.  (A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane...they call it a typhoon is the western Pacific and Indian Oceans.)

Melor is interesting for a couple of reasons.  As of three days ago, Typhoon Melor was a Super Typhoon and the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph.  It's making landfall with winds around 90-95 mph, but the storm surge and waves will be more damaging than a 90 mph storm due to it's prior intensity.  Also, the storm will impact pretty much the entire main island of Honshu, which is home to over 100 million people.  Tokyo will be on the bad side of Melor.  Fortunately, Melor is booking to the northeast at about 29 mph, so that will keep rainfall totals down and limit widespread flooding.

Japan is no stranger to Typhoons having last been struck two years ago.