Woman falls to her death from rescue helicopter during Japan typhoon Hagibis

A 77-year-old woman has fallen from a helicopter and died during a a rescue mission from an area devastated by Typhoon Hagibis.

Hagibis is one of the worst typhoons to hit Japan in recent history, killing up to 35 people and temporarily paralysing Tokyo.

Rescue workers accidentally dropped the woman 40 metres to the ground in the northeast Japanese city of Iwaki while transporting her by helicopter, according to the Tokyo Fire Department.

The fire department also admitted the pensioner was not strapped in properly while she was being airlifted, according to Sky News.

The woman was announced dead at hospital, AAP reported.

Emergency workers, helicopters and boats were sent out on Sunday and Japan has sent out tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers to help save stranded residents and fight floods.

At least 35 people are dead, a further 19 are missing and 170 people are injured, according to local media, since the typhoon made landfall in the Izu Peninsula on Saturday evening.

TV footage showed cars and vast swathes of residential areas submerged in muddy waters after the bank of the Chikuma River collapsed, causing massive flooding in the city of Nagano and neighbouring areas.

Authorities estimated that some areas may see floodwaters of up to five metres deep, Kyodo News reported.

The typhoon caused a total of 56 landslides in 15 prefectures and 21 rivers broke their banks, the government said.

About 166,000 households remained without electricity as of 5pm local time on Sunday.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the typhoon had "brought disaster" to extremely broad regions.

The government is "doing its utmost" to engage in search and rescue operations and recovery efforts, he said.

Crew members die as cargo ship sinks in Tokyo Bay

Two people were dead and six others unaccounted for as a 12-crew Panamanian cargo ship sank late on Saturday in Tokyo Bay, where it was anchored, according to Kyodo.

Four other crew members of the 1925-ton ship were rescued on Sunday morning.

Overnight, more than 4.4 million people were ordered to evacuate their homes in east and northeast Japan, including 910,000 in the city of Kawasaki, as the storm brought heavy rains and powerful winds, inundating residential areas.

In Tokyo, about 80,000 residents spent the night at emergency shelters amid fears of massive flooding.

About 800 flights for Sunday have been cancelled, following the cancellation of more than 1600 flights on the previous day, while many train services in the Tokyo region remained suspended.

The typhoon weakened to an ex-tropical cyclone over the Pacific around noon.

Rugby World Cup organisers cancelled a match between Namibia and Canada in the northern Japanese city of Kamaishi on Sunday due to Hagibis, while three other games will go ahead as scheduled, officials said.

The game at Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium was the third match to be called off due to the storm.