Heatwave blankets much of Japan, killing 14 people over long weekend

I wish they'd just say, "This is going to be how it is until October. I get a little tired of the weather forecast saying, "Tomorrow will be a little cooler at 34," then the day of, "another record-breaking hot day, with hundreds of people hospitalised for heat stroke".

And there's no way it's less than 38 outdoors at the moment here. I started to feel some heatstroke symptoms yesterday and at night had a massive headache and nausea, but fortunately air-conditioning helped. Take care, people.

What Smith said though in a milder year we might get some relief by mid September--at least the nights tend to cool off a bit. It feels like an incinerator out there. When this kind of heatwave sets in the only thing that seems capable of disrupting it seems to be a typhoon.

Thank god I'll be spending most of August in a better climate.

Used to be able to handle this when I was in my 30s, but now in my 50s, I find it simply debilitating. I walk my whippet at 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM (he's old) and otherwise stay close to the AC.

My husband got a bit of heatstrke on Saturday, wasn't outside much but was busy all day and didn't get anytime to rest.

Please be careful everyone, there is more to avoiding heatstroke than sitting by an aircon. Drink more than you think you need, eat well, regular rest.

Used to be able to handle this when I was in my 30s, but now in my 50s, I find it simply debilitating.

In 20 years temperature also raised. I personally think Japan needs more trees and green. There is entirely too much concrete. Trees could provide shade and they suck in moisture so they might even be able to help against the insane humidity. It's really like walking inside an oven. Really unpleasant.

I personally think Japan needs more trees and green.

Sadly, the trend is towards less trees and green space overall. In Kobe, whenever an older, larger home is demolished, three new narrow cookie-cutter homes spring up. The older homes usually have lovely gardens with plentiful trees. The newer homes literally have postage stamps of green, token shrubs in the corner of their driveways.

Kobe is also actively developing more of the Rokko Mtns, nibbling away on all sides despite its designation as quasi-National Park. What little green space remains gets weedwacked twice a year--meaning that for the rest of the year it looks horrid. No wonder residents don't value their environment when natural land is so poorly tended. What galls me the most is the endless, brutal pruning of trees (sometimes within weeks of kouyou so as to preserve the true natural hardwood, the concrete, wire-sprouting telephone pole.

Correct me if I'm wrong in assuming this is the norm throughout urban Japan.

Whew! Well my method of dealing is to try to be ahead of the curve. Gunna workout at Golds gym tonight, hit the Finnish saunas (100 degrees) afterwards. Exercizing regularly and building up resistance helps me to pretty much be able to bump off the summer no probs.

I live up in the mountains in southern Kyushu and am surrounded by trees and tea fields. The difference in temperature between my house and down in the asphalt-laden city is very striking. I don't even use an air conditioner.

Japan really needs to start greening things up and not depending on people to do it for them. Seriously... walk by a rice field in the early evening and you can feel at lest a three to five degree drop. Much of the heat we suffer is pure "heat-island effect" and can be dealt with if measures are taken now.

When the air outside is hotter than the human body core temperature, and you start sweating after your pores open, you're essentially cooking yourself as your blood rises to the surface of your skin to try and let off heat but is exposed to even hotter air before circulating through your body again.

Coming from northern Australia where temps are over 35’ for months on end it’s hard to believe so many people die in Japan from heat stroke. Deaths related to heat stroke are nearly unheard of where I come from.

Coming from northern Australia where temps are over 35’ for months on end it’s hard to believe so many people die in Japan from heat stroke. Deaths related to heat stroke are nearly unheard of where I come from.

Because Northern Australia doesn't have the same humidity that Japan does. The heat is much less deadly when it's not so humid, as one can somewhat escape it by getting into some shade, and/or putting on the right clothes. The humidity cannot be escaped - I usually sweat a little even in air conditioning in Japan due to the humidity.

walk by a rice field in the early evening and you can feel at lest a three to five degree drop. Much of the heat we suffer is pure "heat-island effect"

Out here in the sticks I'm surrounded by rice-fields, veggie patches and virtually untouched stands of trees, and yesterday the temperature hit 37 degrees. 36 today and similar temperatures are forecast every day till next Wednesday. This is not normal.

Similar scorching temperatures were reported from 213 locations on a July day in 2014.

Yes, on a day. Not every consecutive day for a week or more, over huge areas of the country. I've been here a long long time and I have never experienced this kind of heat lasting this long, in July.

Normally at the height of summer I get up early to take the dogs out before it gets hot, around 7:30 to 8. This week even setting out by 7 has been pushing it.

Kawabegawa198, you must live in Kawabegawa, Kagoshima! Been there a few times. The river is gorgeous and the history impressive - and it is certainly away from the heat islands.

Coming from northern Australia where temps are over 35’ for months on end it’s hard to believe so many people die in Japan from heat stroke. Deaths related to heat stroke are nearly unheard of where I come from.

Probably most people there run their central AC 24/7 and no doubt the majority of people retire earlier and aren't toiling midday in fields or greenhouses--e.g. "including a woman in her 90s who was found unconscious in a field." My mother in law will turn off the AC and gaman suru her way through the afternoon if you let her. Part of it is being elderly and not sensing the outlandish heat like the rest of us.

Running a marathon standing in a crowd watching, next month let alone in the near future that's going to be hell, I'm glad that I'm too old to be interested in either,

Is it going to be like this when the Olympics fire up

What tha hell was a 90 year old doing in a field on a 36 degree day?!!??!?!

I went a quarter of a century here without an aircon in the house; caved in two years ago. This heat is ridiculous, It's like walking into an oven every time I go outside. and I agree, it is less about age than about the rising temperature and the surrounding concrete jungle.

We really need more vegetation.

@Strangerland - Because Northern Australia doesn't have the same humidity that Japan does

Oh, bull crap it doesn’t! Have you ever been to Cairns or Darwin in summer? Of course you haven’t! It’s 34’+ every day and raining for the better part of three months. Tokyo’s humidity is quite mild by comparison.

Have you ever been to Cairns or Darwin in summer?

Last summer actually. And the literal thought I had was that the temperature was hotter than what I usually deal with in japan, yet it still didn’t feel as hot.

Now, granted one week in Darwin isn’t enough to understand the full range of temperatures possible there, so the comment I expressed earlier can’t be considered fully informed. But that said, it’s what I thought at the time, and the fact that people aren’t dropping like flies up there indicated to me that it may be because there is much less humidity. Im open to other possibilities though.

Sorry lived all over Australia and all over Japan, 20 years in both. Humidity is worse in Japan and the tropics than Australia by miles.

@Strangerland - Because Northern Australia doesn't have the same humidity that Japan does

Oh, bull crap it doesn’t! Have you ever been to Cairns or Darwin in summer?

Hot in Cairns, but sea breezes; hotter in Darwin though. Pleasantly 27 degrees today and about 18 tonight - the southern hemisphere tropical, dry winter. Humidity is high in summer with the wet (600 mm in half a morning last March) but not the unending 80-90%+ humidity of some parts of Japan, where the rain tends to lessen a lot at about now.

Um, complaints about Japan, well, try Taiwan!

Lots of inland heat traps in valleys (eg. Kyoto, Kochi) and the asphalt and concrete in the cities making 34 deg seem like a cool breeze. Then in September it sort of ends. がまん people, again, as usual, in Japan.

I got out and but I miss the excuse to go to a beer garden.

Last summer actually. And the literal thought I had was that the temperature was hotter than what I usually deal with in japan, yet it still didn’t feel as hot

I assume you mean NH's summer i.e July-Aug which is the dry season in Darwin. Temps are usually around 30deg but humidity is much, much lower than during the wet season (Nov to Feb/March). That's probably why you thought Darwin's 'summer' wasn't as bad as Japan's.

@Strangerland, your comment about clothing is the only reason I'm adding to this conversation - the people in the accompanying photo are almost all wearing more than one layer of clothing. That's wrong is so many ways. I was on the flat roof of a new apartment building yesterday where the torchers were putting on the base of the new roof (black, by the way), and it was at least in the mid-30s, if not more. None of us had a problem with it (I'm 64, and the men on the crew are considerably younger) because we wore light clothing and hats, and there was lots of water to drink. All it takes to avoid heatstroke is some really simple thinking.

Japan's population is on the decline.... so that means that for every large house with a large garden that is knocked down and replaced by 3 smaller homes, there are 2 to 3 older homes outside of the city that are going to rot and become overgrown with various plant life. Yes, places like Osaka, Tokyo, and Fukuoka may warm a bit but in general, Japan is becoming greener overall. Also, new construction in Japan is quite good. They're designing in very good insulation which will require all those Air Conditions to work even less.

@Strangerland - Because Northern Australia doesn't have the same humidity that Japan does. The heat is much less deadly when it's not so humid

I beg your pardon? Obviously, you have never been to northern Australia during November to March. It’s 35’+ every day and raining most days due to the monsoon. The humidity and heat in Cairns, Townsville, Darwin, etc. are much more severe than Tokyo. However, it is extremely rare to hear of deaths from heat stroke.

20 years here I've gotten somewhat used to the heat. It's the humidity I can't stand!

I want to visit Japan, maybe some of y'all could help me out. Appreciate it. RIP to all the victims.

@Strangerland, your comment about clothing is the only reason I'm adding to this conversation - the people in the accompanying photo are almost all wearing more than one layer of clothing.

I can't speak to the efficacy of the clothing the people in the picture are wearing, but if you want to see the best clothes for dealing with direct sunlight, look at desert dwellers - who often wear more than one layer I believe (though am too lazy to fact check at the moment).

My boss won’t let me wear short pants at work so I’m going to wear a skirt tomorrow !

kurisupisu Just wear the short pants and if your boss complains tell him/her to get lost. If you lose your job over that, it wasn't worth the aggravation, you can get a job where you can wear short pants. Might have to leave Japan though, lol.

The Humidity this year is, a bit high ... somewhere between 53%-65% (looking at the barometers) and combined with a temperature range of 33-34'C+ all day & night it's .... quite taxing. Annoyingly my Aircon also stopped working the day before yesterday too...

Make sure heat prone areas have well shaded shelters, where appropriate raised floors to allow circulation of hot air out, insulated to keep air conditioned air in.

I beg your pardon? Obviously, you have never been to northern Australia during November to March. It’s 35’+ every day and raining most days due to the monsoon.

Why don't you read my reply to your original comment, the one that is above the quote, where I stated that I have been to Northern Australia in summer (last summer).

@Do the hustle The humidity and heat in Cairns, Townsville, Darwin, etc. are much more severe than Tokyo. However, it is extremely rare to hear of deaths from heat stroke.

Cairns Population: 139,693

Townsville Population: 167,847

Darwin Population: 106,255

Honshu Population: 104,000,000

Hey Guys, if you reduce the population size by a factor of 1,000, deaths from heat stroke become less common.

The less skin you expose to the sun the cooler it is. The worst thing you can do in the heat is wear too little clothing. As for layering, wearing a cotton undershirt helps wick sweat away from the body. I thought it was a silly thing to do, until I tried it myself. You do feel cooler.

Luddite - Nah, all the cotton undershirt does is get soaked with your sweat and keeps it there next to your skin. I take the shirt off and open the parasol, and presto, the breeze dries the sweat off my body which is now in the shade. You get more breeze because there are fewer people near you when you take off your shirt and open the parasol : )

I wonder if the Tokyo 2020 games will be even possible to run? Climate change isn't going away and keeps changing so in another two years with ever increasing temperatures every year what does that do? Both the winter and summer games will probably come to an end, and we're seeing the beginning of that

Holding the games at this time of year two years from now instead of October will go down as one of the classic blunders of all time

Stay well everyone, plenty of fluids, and try to find aircon where you can

Strangerland

Because Northern Australia doesn't have the same humidity that Japan does. The heat is much less deadly when it's not so humid, as one can somewhat escape it by getting into some shade, and/or putting on the right clothes. The humidity cannot be escaped - I usually sweat a little even in air conditioning in Japan due to the humidity.

Ever been up the top end of Aus? Obviously not! Japan is cool by comparison.

I’ve lived for 10 years in Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu. It’s very hot. It’s the humidity that’s killer though. It drains you. Staying hydrated is what’s important. The humidity takes it from you very quickly. Stay safe out there folks!!!!!

heatwave? is that: 'the season formerly known as summer?' （⌒▽⌒）

And yet there are people jogging.

Australians used to say that the weather was so hot that "only mad dogs and Englishmen" would be outside.

It's way to hot for outside sports. People need to use common sense.

If you can save money by not using a/c that's great. But not if doing so will kill you.

As for the woman in her nineties out in the field....she should know better.

But just maybe, she decided that if she's going to die, she'd rather go out that way, than live for another year in some hospital confined to a bed.