Weather officials are warning of gusty winds and high waves in southwestern Japan, as a tropical storm is forecast to approach Okinawa Prefecture through Friday.

The Meteorological Agency says that as of 5 p.m. on Thursday, Severe Tropical Storm Mawar was about 190 kilometers southwest of Naha City in Okinawa. It was moving north-northeast at 15 kilometers per hour.

The storm has a central atmospheric pressure of 975 hectopascals, with winds of up to 90 kilometers per hour near its center and gusts of up to 126 kilometers per hour.

Maximum instantaneous wind speeds of about 110 kilometers per hour were recorded on Tokashiki Island, 107 kilometers per hour in Nanjo City, and 105 kilometers per hour in Naha on Thursday afternoon.

The storm has also brought rough seas to Okinawa.

Officials in Okinawa told NHK that, as of 6 p.m., a total of six elderly people had been slightly injured due to strong winds. They included an 86-year-old man who fell and suffered a head injury, and a woman in her 80s who injured her foot.

Mawar is expected to gradually shift course eastward and come closest to Okinawa's main island through Friday.

Maximum instantaneous wind speeds are expected to reach 126 kilometers per hour in the Okinawa and Amami regions.

Rough seas are also expected in these regions, with waves of up to nine meters through Friday.

Rain will also intensify as the storm approaches. In the 24 hours through noon on Friday, up to 150 millimeters of rain could fall in parts of the Okinawa and Amami regions.

Officials warn there is a risk of flooding from high waves and storm surges in low-lying areas of the Okinawa region. Residents are also advised to remain vigilant for landslides and swelling rivers.

Areas that are not near the storm may have torrential downpours as well.

Rain clouds have developed over parts of Kyushu and Shikoku, as moist air is flowing in from the storm toward a stationary seasonal rain front.

Nakatsu City in Oita Prefecture had 45 millimeters of rain in the one-hour period through 3 p.m.

Rainfall is expected to intensify in wide areas from western Japan to eastern Japan, as the front becomes more active through Saturday. Some areas may have torrential rain accompanied by thunder on Friday.

Officials warn that linear bands of rain clouds could develop over the Chugoku region and Shikoku on Friday, dumping heavy rain and wreaking havoc on these areas.