TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Western Japan is bracing for a powerful typhoon on Thursday evening, the weather agency said, with Typhoon Cimaron likely to bring strong winds and torrential rainfall to regions already battered by downpours last month.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Typhoon Cimaron is currently located south of Shikoku.

As of 11:00 a.m. local time, Cimaron was traveling in north-northwesterly direction across the Pacific at a speed of 35 km per hour and packing wind speeds of up to 216 kph at its center with an atmospheric pressure of 955 hectopascals.

Cimaron, the second typhoon to hit Japan this week, will pass over the Japanese mainlands before reaching the Sea of Japan by Friday morning, the JMA said, bringing winds of up to 198 kph through Friday in the western Japan region of Shikoku.

The weather agency predicts rainfall of up to 800 mm in the area in the 24-hour period through Friday morning, it said.

"I want the government to take coordinated measures to prevent damage as much as possible such as through early evacuations," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quoted as telling a meeting of the disaster response headquarters.

The western region has already suffered from a powerful earthquake and devastating torrential downpours recently, the latter of which killed 220 people in July.

Transportation systems have already been disrupted with 200 flights being canceled, transport authorities said.