Japan land minister inspects typhoon-hit Chiba, calls for levee breach review
In short
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Tatsunori Ibayashi inspected Typhoon No. 25 damage in Chiba Prefecture on Oct. 4, visiting the breached levee at Inba-numa, the JR Uchibo Line and a flooded housing complex in Shisui town. He said the government must start by verifying why the levee failed, and the Yomiuri Shimbun reported an additional TEC-FORCE expert team would be sent to speed recovery. Chiba Prefecture said a body found on Oct. 3 at a landslide site in Nagara town raised the typhoon's death toll to 15 across Chiba and Kanagawa.
Read the full story 2 min read
Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tatsunori Ibayashi inspected Typhoon No. 25 damage in Chiba Prefecture on Oct. 4, visiting Inba-numa, where a levee breached and flooding occurred, the JR Uchibo Line, where a slope collapse sent earth onto the tracks, and other sites, according to TBS NEWS DIG, Nippon TV News and the Yomiuri Shimbun. The Yomiuri reported it was his first inspection of the typhoon's damage since taking office. Chiba Governor Kumagai accompanied him, Nippon TV News reported. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
At Inba-numa, the minister was briefed on the state of levee restoration, TBS NEWS DIG reported. “We have to start by verifying why it breached,” he said, according to Nippon TV News. After the inspection he said that, “as rainfall becomes more extreme, the national government will work to provide information that can serve as the basis for evacuation,” the same outlet reported. [ 1 , 2 ]
The Yomiuri reported the ministry would send an additional TEC-FORCE emergency disaster response team, including experts from the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, to the KAIUN housing complex in Shisui town, where a collapsed embankment has left flooding continuing and residents isolated. Pump trucks are draining water there and the ministry has carried out drone surveys; the additional dispatch was planned for as early as Oct. 5. [ 3 ]
Chiba Prefecture said on Oct. 3 that another body had been found at the site of a landslide in Nagara town, Nippon TV News reported, bringing the death toll from Typhoon No. 25 to 15 across Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures. [ 2 ]
Private local railways in the prefecture were also heavily damaged, the Yomiuri reported. Kominato Railway in Ichihara said on Sept. 24 that 24 locations between Kazusa-Ushiku and Kazusa-Nakano, a 22.7-km stretch, had been hit by mudslides, fallen trees and broken equipment, and that assessing the full extent of the damage would take considerable time, with more damaged sites possible. The company had resumed full-line service only on Sept. 19 after August's heavy rain in Chiba; the Goi–Kazusa-Ushiku section restarted from midday on Sept. 22. A company official said the damage to the southern line was far larger than in the August rain and that no restoration date could be given. [ 3 ]
Isumi Railway in Otaki town, which has been fully suspended since a derailment in October 2024, reported 12 damaged locations on the Ohara–Kazusa-Nakano section, including slope collapses and earth washed onto the tracks. Substitute buses resumed on Sept. 22 and the company is studying the impact on restoration work aimed at reopening the Ohara–Otaki section around autumn 2027, according to the Yomiuri. [ 3 ]
Mr. Ibayashi also inspected facilities related to Narita Airport, the Yomiuri reported, and said he “sincerely respected” the difficult decision taken over land for a new 3,500-metre C runway, after a four-party council confirmed that use of the land expropriation system may be unavoidable. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The visit puts national ministries directly behind reconstruction in Chiba, including a specialised TEC-FORCE team for a housing complex where flooding continues. The documents also point to a longer-term burden: local private railways serving shrinking ridership face repeated disaster repair costs that could affect future operations.
Key facts
- Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tatsunori Ibayashi inspected Typhoon No. 25 damage in Chiba Prefecture on Oct. 4, including Inba-numa where a levee breached, the JR Uchibo Line and the KAIUN housing complex in Shisui town, where flooding continued after an embankment collapse [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Ibayashi said the cause of the breach must be investigated first, and that the national government will work to provide information that can serve as the basis for evacuation as rainfall becomes more extreme [ 1 , 2 ]
- The Yomiuri Shimbun reported an additional TEC-FORCE emergency disaster response team, including experts from the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, would be dispatched as early as Oct. 5 to the flooded housing complex in Shisui town [ 3 ]
- Chiba Prefecture said a body found on Oct. 3 at a landslide site in Nagara town brought the death toll from Typhoon No. 25 to 15 across Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures [ 2 ]
- Kominato Railway said 24 locations on its 22.7-km Kazusa-Ushiku–Kazusa-Nakano section were damaged by mudslides, fallen trees and broken equipment, and that it could not yet give a restoration date [ 3 ]
- Isumi Railway reported 12 damaged locations on the Ohara–Kazusa-Nakano section, with substitute buses running since Sept. 22 and the impact on planned restoration work still under study [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Why the Inba-numa levee breached No document gives a cause; the minister said verification was needed, so the cause remains undetermined.
- Whether the additional TEC-FORCE team was actually dispatched on Oct. 5 The planned additional dispatch is reported only by the Yomiuri Shimbun, with no confirmation from another outlet or an official statement.
- When the damaged local private railway lines will reopen Kominato Railway said assessing the full extent of damage would take considerable time and more damaged sites could be found; no restoration date has been given.
- Chiba Prefecture announced the death toll from Typhoon No. 25 in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures as 15 Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kominato Railway resumed full-line service after damage from the August heavy rain in Chiba [ 3 ]
- Kominato Railway restarted the Goi–Kazusa-Ushiku section from midday; Isumi Railway substitute buses resumed after a one-day suspension [ 3 ]
- Kominato Railway announced 24 damaged locations between Kazusa-Ushiku and Kazusa-Nakano [ 3 ]
- Chiba Prefecture said a body was found at the Nagara town landslide site, raising the typhoon death toll to 15 [ 2 ]
- Minister Ibayashi and Governor Kumagai inspected damaged sites in Chiba, including Inba-numa, the JR Uchibo Line and the KAIUN housing complex in Shisui town [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The Yomiuri reported TEC-FORCE would be dispatched again, as early as that day, to the flooded housing complex in Shisui town [ 3 ]