national

Heatwave kills 12 across Japan

36 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2013 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

36 Comments
Login to comment

Mostly people from the same two groups. Sadly people often don't believe it when they hear that this heat kills. Some even laugh it off.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

One simple way to gauge in this heat whether you are drinking enough water/liquids is if you need to take a leak, a slash, pee, wizz, piss, etc. on a regular 30 to 120 minute intervals then yes you are drinking enough and most likely sitting in a VERY WELL air conditioned room.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Before you worry about power saving , think about your own body.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

A 90-year-old victim of setsuden.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Just common sense is required to prevent heatsroke, keep in the shade ,keep hydrated, DO NOT PLAY sports in the middle of the day , But in Japan common sense doesn,t prevail, the other day I saw school kids jogging around the tennis courts 1130 am, whilst the coach was timing them, and the other kids lt were playing a tennis match, not to mention all the other oyagis jogging and walking during the hottest part of the day.....

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Don't drink green tea! It is a diuretic! This is what happens to the old people. They have no money, so they sit at home with no aircon drinking green tea. After three or four days they become so dehydrated their kidneys fail and they die! The same with the school kids. They all have their little flask of fluids that dear old mummy has filled with green tea or wheat tea to dehydrate their little nippers while they playing sport! "Oh, der!"

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Local HS sports festival 2:00 yesterday with the temperature at 36. I could not believe my eyes.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Whenever I hear 'school activities outside' in connection with heat-related victims, I find it unbelievable that teachers seem to possess so little common sense! If I were a parent of a kid being made to run around in this blistering heat, I would go to the highest authorities to get this stopped immediately.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

If I were a parent of a kid being made to run around in this blistering heat, I would go to the highest authorities to get this stopped immediately.

An you really think this would actually achieve something?! I see you have very little understanding of how Japan works!

2 ( +7 / -5 )

It seems it is only the public schools that continue to do sporting activities in the heat. One of my private high school students informed me that her school had cancelled all sports activities and had classes watching movies during PE. One small step for one high school, but a great leap for Japan.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

The crazy thing is, from what I know it didn't used to be like this. The undokai days used to be in October, where they belong. And no, complaining to the school won't do a thing. It'll simply get you branded another "monster parent". Our high school is another decent one who has changed all PE over to swimming and/or the indoor theoretical lessons, but I've seen no such thing at the elementary or junior high school level. If you have kids you worry about, tell them to complain of stomach ache or whatever and sit PE out on bad days. That, and warn/ teach your kids about the first signs of heat exhaustion/stroke, so they can protect themselves. (most teachers certainly won't) It's stupid and dangerous to have to resort to this, but I haven't found anything else.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Actually, mugi-cha is the preferred drink during summer in Japan. This does not contain caffeine, but contains a lot of minerals. Drink up, everyone!

8 ( +9 / -1 )

ALL of these deaths could have been avoided, and probably all of the hospitalizations, with a simple combination of common sense and requirements that people not engage in stupid activities that will LAND them in the hospital. Parents should be allowed to sue school systems for hospitalization/death of their children if it happened as a result of practicing in a dirt field in peak day/heat. It won't stop the parents from allowing the schools to do it, but might kick a bit of common sense into the system from the school's end.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Very sad to hear this kind of news & it's similar to cases from last Summer!

One thing for sure is they need to bump up the airconditioning in the railway stations.

In my recent travels I get shocked when I walk intto different stations and it's like a freaken oven! I've seen people passing out there too, awful situations!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

wipeout - No, you don't have any evidence that anyone's died from drinking green tea.

Do you have any evidence that green tea has not contributed to the deaths of the elderly? I can quite easily prove the diuretic properties of green tea and find warnings about the effects of drinking it during the hotter months. And you wipeout-san? What can you prove? Besides your argumentative attitude based purely on opinion, of course.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

I guess the plan is working, keeping elderly in non air conditioned rooms and making children play in extreme heat. I mean, if there is no plan then the plan that is working is the plan. Why doesn't Japan care about its people?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I'm with wipeout on this one. People misunderstand what diurectic means

The idea that drinking beverages containing natural diuretic substances, such as caffeine, actually drain fluid out of the body (i.e., creates a net loss in body water content) is simply a misunderstanding of the diuretic action.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Japan must respect this horible heat!!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I just came back from an 84km cycle ride on my mama-chari. I am not a fast rider and typically average around 20km/hour. I weighed myself before leaving and I was 77kg, while riding I drank 2 liters of water and only had 1 bathroom break and that was at the 21km mark. I weighed myself after arriving home and was 74kg which means that I burnt up 5kg of stuff including a whole lotta water. 77kg + 2kg (weight of 2L of water) - 5kg lost to the elements = 74kg.

If you are out running around or participating in physical activities... Keep a bottle of water near by and make it a point to drink every 30 minutes or so.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

its time to take precautions while going out

1 ( +1 / -0 )

still feeling heatwave ish in these parts today.. kanagawa prefecture ... I am staying in with the kiddos.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Have you heard comments like this from Japanese? I have.

Heat kill? LOL It killed someone else, but no ME. I am okay, I am strong. I no need aircon, I do enjoy all physical activities during day time. It does not bother me.

Well, these people are not taking this matter seriously. Hope they won't be the next victims.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I live in Texas my job requires me to work outside a lot I frequently take trips to the water fountain it can get over a 100 for days on end. Although I've lived in Texas all my life I've only once suffered from the heat I was overweight at the time.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This has happened every summer since I've been here and I never understand it. It doesn't come as a surprise to me or anyone I know that summers here are hot and humid and that you need to keep hydrated and try to refrain from strenuous activity at the hottest times of the day. This isn't a poor country where people may have to walk great distances to get water. There's a vending machine on darn near every street. I don't think I've ever been to a store, restaurant, office or house without air-conditioning. There is simply no excuse for this to happen time and time again. Adults in charge of children need to practice some common sense and either keep the kids inside during the hottest hours or force them to drink plenty of fluids. The elderly need to be looked in on by family and neighbors and to practice a little common sense themselves, assuming they are of sound mind and physically able to stay hydrated.

poppler: Healthy adults don't need to use the a/c during the day time. I stayed at home today with just a fan and I'm comfortable. I do use the a/c at night. The temp drops but it gets more humid and uncomfortable. I can't sleep without the a/c.

Speak for yourself. I live in a place that is like a sauna in the daytime and nothing I do besides turning on the a.c. makes it in the least bit bearable. It's a corner apartment with southwestern exposure and no insulation. We've seen the thermometer on the inside hit 35 C and I'm sure it's gotten hotter but we try not to be there in the daytime unless we have to so I can't be sure. We've tried planting vines - which all die because of the heat and constant sun exposure, not to mention the wind - putting up straw curtains, you name it. Nothing works. The bottom line is that the place is poorly built for this climate. My husband and I are both perfectly healthy but it's just plain uncomfortable and intolerable and there is no reason for us to even try and bear it when there is an alternative, namely the air conditioning.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The heat is no problem for me. I am used to it and do not need air- conditioning. However, not everyone is the same. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook this morning.:

"Everyday at my local high school,kids are getting heat stroke and passing out. Jock sports coaches think it is a test of manhood to be running around in ridiculous heat at mid day. (Expletive) Japanese schools, I'm not sending my kids to one."

It seems the old people in the countryside know how to look after themselves. He farms and he says: "My local farmers tell me to wake up at 4AM and work until 8 then take a nap. Drink pocari sweat with some salt in it. The highschool only allows kids to drink water." It seems the older people can be wise.

I think it is also worth mentioning that in Thailand one can buy a packet of rehydration salts for about 30 yen. I took a packet along to a local chemist and asked for the same. The nearest they had was in a bottle and cost about 3,000 yen. I explained it was not really what I was looking for; I was looking for something that worked for about 1/100th of that price.

Perhaps Japanese chemists should import or at least sell rehydration salts. They profits may go down, but a few lives could be saved.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

CC LEMON the answer .... but me can't stand w/o aircon my gosh i hate summer and the smell on the train yuckkky

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Healthy adults don't need to use the a/c during the day time. I stayed at home today with just a fan and I'm comfortable. I do use the a/c at night. The temp drops but it gets more humid and uncomfortable. I can't sleep without the a/c.

Partly true, some places stay cooler than others.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

For the older people dying at home, all it takes is sitting in a tub of cool water. That's all.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If possible, keep the glass on your windows shaded from the outside. I do not know how you can do that in a high rise, though.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The problem with the elderly is that they don't drink enough, period. If they switched out there daily 4 cups of tea for water, they would still be getting heat stroke. They are afraid of 'mizu-butori', and idea as bizarre as fan death, that drinking water will make you heavy and mess up your system. In the rare cases that older people gain weight in the summer, it's from living on stuff like somen, sweet gelatine summer desserts, 'ice candy', and lying around. But they blame it on being over-hydrated and cut back on fluids, or avoid them. The elderly are chronically dehydrated.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The problem with many elderly is that their sense of thirst has diminished with age. They simply don't feel thirsty as much as younger people do, therefore, it's often difficult to get them to drink enough fluids until it is too late. Some of them are not used to drinking just water, surprisingly. I push my mom (86) to drink iced tea/lemonade/water, and eat watermelon, popsicles, grapes, and anything else that has a high liquid content. It's a struggle though because often she just doesn't feel thirsty and can't force herself to drink.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Absolutely right. The sense of thirst is diminished, and they don't perspire as much as a younger person...so they get dehydrated and the heat is trapped in their bodies.

They usually don't ever drink tap water, I don't know why. Perhaps in their younger years the quality of tap water wasn't good? There has to be something to account for the aversion so many have for it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites