TOKYO (AP) -- Rescue workers have found four more bodies in southern Japan, bringing the death toll from heavy rain to six with about 20 more missing.
Troops and rescuers gained access Friday to some of the villages that were cut off by torrential rain and rescued more than a dozen stranded residents, officials said.
Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier this week, dumping rain that has wrecked homes, roads and rice terraces.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 12,000 troops and rescuers were focusing on remote villages where hundreds are still stranded. The operation has been slowed by mud and floodwaters and more flooding was forecast for the country's east.
Television footage showed rice fields and homes flooded after a river overflowed its banks. Roads and bridges were damaged and dozens of vehicles and houses destroyed and half covered with mud. Residents from remote villages were being airlifted by military helicopters while soldiers waded through floodwaters carrying elderly residents on their backs.
Japan's Meteorological Agency said Fukuoka and Oita experienced unprecedented rainfall.

Dozens Killed in China

Widespread flooding in southern and central China has left dozens of people dead or missing in recent weeks, destroyed property and sparked public anger over a lack of information and the slow pace of recovery.
The Xiangjing river that flows through the capital of densely populated, agricultural Henan province broke its banks, flooding large parts of Changsha, a city of more than 7 million people. Among the hardest-hit places was Ningxiang county, where 44 people were listed as dead or missing, official media reported Friday.
Authorities in nearby Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have reported another 20 dead and 14 missing. Both figures are cumulative since mid- to late June.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated while the region has suffered more than $1 billion in direct economic losses, according to official reports. Power supplies and communications have been cut, while rail, road and air transport have suffered severe disruptions.
More than 11 million people in 11 southern provinces were affected by floods, landslides and hailstorms, the government has reported.