A huge cyclone is heading straight for Japan, threatening the country with chaos in the coming days.

Storm Shanshan is moving slowly west toward Japan and could hit as early as Sunday morning, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The south of the country is expected to be hit by the worst of the storm.

The New York Times reports that the storm is moving through the Philippine Sea with current wind speeds of 52mph.

However, the Japan Meteorological Agency warns that the winds will likely intensify before directly hitting Japan's south coast.

Meteorologist Mike Ventrice posted a map on X with the caption: "Pray for Japan."

This comes just days after Japan was hit by Typhoon Ampil, causing thousands to evacuate and hundreds of flights and trains to be cancelled.

The capital Tokyo and other parts of eastern Japan saw fierce winds reaching speeds of 130mph in some areas.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned at the time that "some areas in the northern part of Japan are experiencing heavy rain due to warm, humid air around the typhoon."

They added: "Please be advised that the risk of landslides has been significantly elevated by the heavy rain so far in some areas."

Although the impact on Tokyo was not as severe as first feared, there were still reports of minor damage and injuries.

Japanese media reported that 90,000 travelers were affected by cancellations as a result of the storm.

Central Japan Railway cancelled all bullet train services between Tokyo and Nagoya last Friday.

Tokyo Disneyland was forced to close at 3pm rather than 9pm, and rail services on the Tohoku, Yamagata and Joetsu Shinkansen lines were reduced.

Yamato Transport, responsible for delivering packages for Amazon and other companies in Japan, suspended all deliveries in Tokyo and regions near the capital.