Parts of western Japan have experienced record rainfall over the last 24 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Thursday.

The agency said that by 4 a.m. Thursday morning, 528.5 mm of rain fell in Shimanto, Kochi Prefecture -- the most rainfall in one night for that area since records started being kept, NTV reported.

Police said about 10,000 people living in western Kochi were evacuated as rivers started to overflow their banks. Landslide warnings were also issued; police said six people from two families living in Iyoki, Kuroshio, had been cut off by a landslide on a mountain road, NTV reported.

Parts of eastern Japan are also experiencing heavy rainfall. The Tokai region is likely to receive up to 200 mm of rainfall by Friday morning, while the Kanto-Koshin area will receive about 150 mm, said the agency which officially declared the start of the rainy season in the Kanto region Thursday-- three days earlier than last year.

© Japan Today