TOKYO (AFP) - A powerful typhoon made landfall in central Japan early Thursday, damaging houses, paralysing transport and leaving at least 14 people injured, officials and news reports said.

Typhoon Melor came ashore in Aichi prefecture shortly after 5:00 am (2000 GMT Wednesday), the meteorological agency said, becoming the first typhoon to make landfall in Japan since 2007.

It was moving on course to batter the main island of Honshu later Thursday, packing gusts of up to 198 kilometres (123 miles) an hour, the agency said, and bringing heavy rain.

Television footage showed some roofs and walls of houses blown off while trees were toppled, blocking roads in Aichi.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least 14 people were injured by strong wind or heavy rain as more than 9,000 people evacuated to shelters after efforts were made to strengthen homes and equip coastal areas with storm surge barriers.

Japanese airlines plan to ground 290 flights across the nation, while railway services were temporarily suspended, mainly in central Japan, Japanese media reported.

On Wednesday, more than 10,000 households were without electricity on islands in Japan's far south, according to local power companies.

Melor, which means jasmine in Malay, was the latest in a series of powerful typhoons to batter Asia in recent weeks.

In August, Typhoon Etau brought flash floods and landslides that killed at least 25 people in Japan, even though it avoided a direct hit.

Another powerful storm, Ketsana, has caused devastation across Southeast Asia, killing hundreds of people, mostly in the Philippines and Vietnam. In Taiwan more than 600 people died after Typhoon Morakot struck in August.

Western Japan was battered in October 2004 by Typhoon Tokage, which killed 95 people.

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