EPA/Frank Robichon
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NOS News•today, 12:24
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Japan is experiencing a heat wave for the fourth consecutive day. In Tokyo, temperatures have nearly broken a 150-year-old record and there is a threat of power shortage. The authorities have asked the Japanese to use electricity as economically as possible.
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In Tokyo it is more than 35 degrees in the afternoon, the highest value recorded there since 1875. Last weekend, it was 40.2 degrees in the city of Isesaki, 85 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, the highest temperature ever recorded in June.
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The high temperatures are remarkable around this time and the heat doesn’t seem over just yet: it is expected to last at least until Saturday. The high humidity adds a little extra, the feeling temperatures are around 40 degrees.
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Killing by sunstroke
The crowds in downtown Tokyo have decreased in recent days. The heat drives most people inside, into the cooling air conditioning. The people who do venture out on the street walk in the shade as much as possible or wear a parasol.
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The sunscreen has now sold out in several places and stores can’t replenish stocks of portable mini fans and special cooling sprays fast enough. On social media, people share tips with each other about the best ice creams to get through the summer.
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Apparently there are elderly people who have turned off their air conditioners, but please it’s so hot, don’t hesitate to cool down.
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But it’s not just minor suffering. At least two people have died from heat stroke, Japanese media report. “I’ve heard that a lot of people have already ended up in hospital with sunstroke, so I’ll turn on the air conditioning and make sure I drink enough water,” says Maki Iwata from Tokyo.
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Request to save electricity
In Tokyo and the surrounding area, authorities have asked to save electricity in order to avoid an imminent power outage. Japan has less power because the northeast of the country was hit by an earthquake in March, which shut down a number of nuclear power plants.
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Maki Iwata is concerned about her grandparents: “The government says we should save energy, but older people often take this kind of advice way too literally. Then they don’t turn on the air conditioning and they die from the heat.”
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The government’s appeal is therefore somewhat moderate: “Apparently there are some elderly people who have turned off their air conditioners, but please, it is so hot, don’t hesitate to cool down,” Japan’s trade and industry minister said at a news conference.
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In the supermarket or department stores, the cooling is just on. “In my office, they also just leave the air conditioning on all day,” says Sakura Mori, who works in the middle of Tokyo in a skyscraper with dozens of floors, all refrigerated. “I was thinking to just sit in the office instead of working at home, then I can piggyback on the coolness there for free.”
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Normally still rainy season
Normally, the rainy season kicks off in much of Japan around this time of year, but Japan’s weather service said yesterday that it’s over in the Tokyo area; 22 days earlier than usual. It is the earliest end since measurements began in 1951. Tokai in central Japan and parts of the south are also talking about the shortest rainy season ever.
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That is why people should also pay more attention. “Immediately after the end of the rainy season, many people are not yet used to heat and are at greater risk of heat stroke,” the Japanese weather service warned.
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