Over 1,200 residents have sought refuge in temporary shelters such as school gymnasiums, while another 2,000 have taken shelter with friends or relatives.

It has damaged dozens of homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate in the north eastern coastal city of Ofunato.

Firefighters were Tuesday battling Japan's worst wildfire in half a century, which has left one dead and forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 local residents. White smoke billowed from a forested area around the northern city of Ofunato,