In the city of Miyazaki, Miyazaki Prefecture, four people suffered minor injuries in gusty winds on Wednesday. Weather officials estimated the touchdown of a tornado based on the extent of damage and eyewitnesses.
City officials said the four were in their teens to 80s, and they included a girl whose leg was cut by broken window glass and a man in his 70s whose arm was hit by a flying roof tile.
The city was hit by more violent winds late at night on the same day, NHK reported.
Fire officials said they received more than 20 reports that sudden squalls occurred around JR Minami-Miyazaki Station and Miyazaki Airport.
The reports included injuries from broken glass, collapsed walls and dangling electric cables.
As of 2 a.m. Thursday, eight people aged from under 10 to their 60s were taken to hospitals. None of their conditions are reportedly life-threatening.
Police in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, say the city's fire department received a report on Wednesday evening that a man in his 60s fell from a ship into the sea.
Firefighters, coast guard personnel and others are conducting search and rescue operations. But the man has not been found, and the search efforts have been temporarily suspended.
MA/PR