At least 100 people are thought to have died after record rainfall caused flooding and landslides in western Japan, a government spokesman says.
Dozens more are reported to be missing and electricity supplies have been hit.
Since Thursday, parts of western Japan have received three times the usual rainfall for the whole of July. Two million people have been ordered to evacuate as rivers burst their banks.
“We’ve never experienced this kind of rain before,” a weather official said.
Rescuers restarted their search through the mud for any survivors or the bodies of those killed on Monday morning.
An official in Okayama prefecture told AFP news agency that water levels were gradually receding and that emergency teams may be able to access the worst-hit areas on foot.
