White smoke billowed from a forested area around the northern city of Ofunato, aerial TV footage showed, five days after the blaze began after record low rainfall.
As of Tuesday morning, the wildfire had engulfed around 2,600 hectares (6,400 acres), the fire and disaster management agency said -- over seven times the area of New York's Central Park.
It is estimated to have damaged at least 80 buildings by Sunday, although details were still being assessed, the agency said.
“There is little concern that the fire will reach the (more densely populated) city area,“ the official said, adding that authorities were “doing our best” to put it out.
An evacuation advisory has been issued to around 4,600 people, of whom 3,939 have left their homes to seek shelter, according to the municipality.
'No rain'
Since Friday, “there has been no rain -- or very little, if any” in Ofunato, a local weather agency official told AFP.
Some types of extreme weather have a well established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.
Some companies have been affected by the wildfire, such as Taiheiyo Cement, which told AFP its Ofunato plant has suspended operations for several days because part of its premises is in the evacuation advisory zone.
Japanese baseball prodigy Roki Sasaki -- who recently joined the Los Angeles Dodgers -- has offered a 10 million yen ($67,000) donation and 500 sets of bedding, Ofunato city's official account posted on X.
Sasaki was a high school student there, after losing his father and grandparents in the huge 2011 tsunami.
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