The strong winds of around 60 kilometres (40 miles) an hour also sent out of control an annual burn at an army firing range at the foot of Mount Fuji Saturday, killing three fire officials, police said.

A strong low-pressure system moved over the Japanese islands from west to east, packing winds of up to 135 kilometres (84 miles) an hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

In Kita-Kyushu, a major city on the southern main island of Kyushu, a 47-year-old woman died from an injury to her neck after a steel canopy at a public parking lot caved in on Saturday, police said.

"The roof was presumed to have been bent by a strong wind," a duty officer at the Kita-Kyushu police station said by telephone.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that at least 46 others were injured in wind-related accidents. A duty officer at the National Police Agency could not immediately confirm the report.

A total of 109 domestic flights were cancelled Sunday due to winds, delaying around 15,700 passengers. Trains in Tokyo and its vicinity were also delayed by the weather, press reports said.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.