A fire has ripped through more than 170 buildings and killed one person in a southern Japanese coastal city, with military and firefighting helicopters scrambling to extinguish the country's largest urban blaze in almost half a century.

Aerial footage from broadcasters showed houses reduced to rubble and thick plumes of smoke rising from the hilly Saganoseki district of Oita city, which overlooks a fishing harbour renowned for its premium Seki-brand mackerel.

The flames had also spread to nearby forested slopes and an uninhabited island more than one kilometre off the coast, likely due to strong winds, local media reported.

The blaze started on Tuesday night and has burned 48,900 square metres, forcing 175 residents in the district, some 770km southwest of Tokyo, to flee to an emergency

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