The powerful Typhoon Shanshan is hitting Japan’s Kyushu on Thursday, with local governments issuing natural disaster alerts and public transport operators canceling trains and flights to brace for a likely landfall on the southwestern main island. While keeping in place a rare special typhoon warning for most parts of Kagoshima Prefecture, the weather agency said the storm is heading in a northerly direction over the sea off the western coast of the prefecture, packing heavy rains and winds that could destroy some houses. JR Kyushu, which already suspended part of its shinkansen bullet train o…