By Aaron Sheldrick

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Typhoon Melor smashed into Japan near the city of Nagoya, bringing winds of 139 kilometers (86 miles) per hour and heavy rain, prompting evacuations and forcing flight cancellations.

Melor’s eye made landfall south of Nagoya, Japan’s third- biggest city, shortly after 5 a.m. local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site. It was the first typhoon to make a direct hit on Japan since September 2007.

More than 21,000 people were evacuated in areas to the west of Nagoya, NHK said. Twenty-two people were injured and more than 30 homes were damaged, it said. Services on the bullet train line between Nagoya and Tokyo to the northeast were suspended, according to NHK.

Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. canceled more than 310 domestic flights. Train lines in Tokyo were stopped, including services to the international airport in Narita.

The weather office issued its highest level warnings for landslides, heavy rain and floods for Nagoya and Tokyo and most of the main island of Honshu. Warnings were issued for high winds, high waves and thunderstorms for areas from the southwest to Tokyo and regions north of the capital.

Melor was centered 210 kilometers west of Tokyo at 7 a.m. local time and moving north-northeast at 50 kilometers per hour, the agency said. Some streets in the capital were flooded and covered in debris as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the city.

Direct Hit

The storm’s maximum sustained winds remained at 139 kph, according to the meteorological agency, which categorized Melor as “strong.”

The storm knocked out power for 7,900 households in Kyushu and nearby islands as it passed southwestern Japan yesterday.

Honda Motor Co. halted production at its plant in Suzuka, Mie prefecture, said Natsuno Asanuma, a company spokeswoman. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, said yesterday it will close 12 plants today around Aichi. Suzuki Motor Corp. said it would shut six factories.

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Japan’s second-biggest refiner, said yesterday it halted oil product shipments from two refineries, one in southwestern Honshu and the other in central Honshu. The stoppages will remain in effect today, it said.

Monitoring Conditions

Cosmo Oil Co., which owns a refinery on Shikoku island, said yesterday operations at the 140,000 barrel-a-day plant and oil product shipments weren’t affected. The company was monitoring conditions around the facility, spokesman Katsuhisa Maeda said.

Melor, the 20th storm of the northwest Pacific cyclone season, weakened from a supertyphoon with winds of 241 kph two days ago. The typhoon was a Category 2 storm on the Saffir- Simpson scale of cyclone strength as it approached Japan’s main island yesterday.

Category 2 storms have sustained winds of between 154 kph and 177 kph and are capable of producing “widespread damage,” according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

A typhoon that struck Japan in 2004 left 95 people dead, according to the country’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Tropical Storm Etau, which passed to the south of Honshu in August, left 25 people dead, according to the FDMA.

Melor is the Malaysian word for Jasmine flowers, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which lists names in use for Pacific storms on its Web site.