About 2,500 rescuers searched for survivors a day after landslides killed 39 people in western Japan following torrential rain, a report said on Thursday.

Seven people were still missing after more than 200 mm of rain in three hours pounded the northern part of Hiroshima city in the early hours of Wednesday, broadcaster NHK reported.

The rain was more than the normal in the whole of August.

The downpour caused slopes to collapse, touching off mudslides in at least 31 places in the area, government officials said.

As of Thursday noon, more than 800 people had taken refuge at emergency shelters in Hiroshima, 700 km south-west of Tokyo, as some families lost their homes and about 1,200 households had no water supply, the report said.

Late Wednesday, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui had conceded that the city issued the evacuation advisory after the disaster had already struck the area.

The disaster led Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko decide not to go on an eight-day retreat, which was scheduled to start on Friday.

Authorities warned of further heavy rains, mudslides, flooding and swollen rivers under unstable weather conditions in western Japan and the northern part of the island of Kyushu and the north-east.

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