Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cancelled a four-country foreign trip as the death toll from flooding and landslides caused by record rainfall in Japan reached 114, local media said Monday. Abe had been expected to visit Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
His office has yet to issue a formal statement.
Separately, ruling Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai told reporters after meeting Abe on Monday that cancelling the trip was "unavoidable" in light of the disaster, which inundated large swaths of western Japan, the Kyodo news agency said.
According to reports, Abe has also promised that the government will provide financial support to residents affected by the disaster.
Al Jazeera's Rob McBride reports from Okoyama Prefecture, Japan.
