© AP: Sadayuki Goto, Kyodo News
Record amounts of rain have fallen in parts of south-western Japan in recent days.
Almost 500,000 people have been ordered or advised to evacuate their homes in south-west Japan after torrential rain triggered widespread flooding.
Landslides were reported in several areas, and one man was dug out from the mud without signs of life, public broadcaster NHK said.
At least 11 people were missing or could not be reached, including a child, and many more were stranded and calling for help across areas of Fukuoka and Oita prefectures on the Japanese island of Kyushu.
Children and teachers at a school were among those cut off by the floodwaters.
Japan's weather bureau said the amount of rain in the region had broken all records and was continuing to fall.
Parts of Fukuoka prefecture were hit by
774 millimetres of rain in nine hours on Wednesday,
more than two times the amount of rain that falls in a normal July, NHK said.
The massive landslides caused by the flooding left at least two houses swept away.
