Japanese rescuers combed through crumbled houses and buried roads on Monday two days after landslides tore through a resort town, fighting time and poor weather to search for more than 100 people believed missing.

At least three people have been killed in the seaside town of Atami after torrential rains at the weekend touched off a succession of landslides to send torrents of mud and rock ripping through streets in one part of the city. In some places, more than a usual July's worth of rain fell in just 24 hours.

The torrential rain and landslides are a reminder of the natural disasters - including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami - that haunt Japan, where the capital Tokyo is to host the summer Olympics beginning this month.