Temperatures soared in many parts of Japan, topping 35 degrees in 31 cities, as the nation marked the Marine Day national holiday on Monday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the highest record temperature was 38 degrees in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture. In Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, the mercury hit 36.4 degrees at 10 a.m., while Takaoka in Toyama Prefecture baked in 36-degree heat, the agency said. In Tokyo, the temperature was 33 degrees at 2 p.m.
The agency has issued an advisory to citizens to take measures to avert heatstroke. It advised the elderly to get plenty of water and salt in their diet and also advised schools to limit the time spent outside for school festivals and sports events this week.
© Japan Today
36 Comments
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Thomas Anderson
I've bought these gel packs that you put in the freezer and freeze them and then wrap it around your neck. They work great! You don't need an air conditioner.
Cletus
Very hot here today, good day to be inside with the aircon on. Feel sorry for all the poor people at work today ;-)
acmpath
Take watermelon, juices, lemon-water with salt and yogurt in diet. Avoid to move under sun.
bajhista65
Hahahaha what's new. IT'S SUMMER. Blame the greedy companies and businessmen destroying mother earth. In the meantime, just bear the consequences. hehehehe
BigRingo
Couldn't stand it any longer! Yesterday and today were the first days of this year I turned the air-con on. Stay cool!
CrazyJoe
I use a twin compressor dehumidifier in my room, so my hygrometer registers only 38%. Drink plenty of water and keep away from sports drinks. The ones high in sugar content will actually dehydrate you.
ihope2eatwhales
Please everyone, to help save electricity just open the windows to your home. You have your refridgerator, of course, full of beer. Drink plenty of it, and you will be fine, plus we can save electricity.
Cos
Go to take a dip in the rotenburo, you won't feel the heat or humidity after.
CrazyJoe
Since alcohol is a diuretic, beer will actually dehydrate you.
Cletus
ihope2eatwhales
Better yet drink beer, but in air conditioned comfort...
nath
Soon Okinawa and Hokkaido will be the cool spots in Japan. The temp here in Okinawa rarely exceeds 33 C and we have nice ocean breezes. I'll be heading up to Tokyo this weekend to await a flight to Singapore, so I am dreading the Tokyo heat. Stay cool and stay hydrated.
DentShop
Turn on the air-con, kick off your trousers, send your lady friend to the kitchen to bring back beers and laugh at the suckers who are sweating outside.
lucabrasi
@CrazyJoe
Urban myth. Beer's 95% water. It hydrates more than it dehydrates.
Jimizo
Limit the time spent outside for sports days? Do you mean like every year when kids are taken to hospital with heatstroke?
CrazyJoe
Beer causes you to go to the bathroom a lot and therefore you lose natrium, thereby dehydrating you.
You are entitled to your opinion, but not the facts.
CrazyJoe
"Alcohol has been known to mitigate the production of antidiuretic hormone, which is a hormone that acts on the kidney to favour water reabsorption in the kidneys during filtration. This occurs because alcohol confuses osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus, which relay osmotic pressure information to the posterior pituitary, the site of antidiuretic hormone release. Alcohol causes the osmoreceptors to signal that there is low osmotic pressure in the blood, which triggers an inhibition of the antidiuretic hormone. As a consequence, one's kidneys are no longer able to reabsorb as much water as they should be absorbing, leading to creation of excessive volumes of urine and the subsequent overall dehydration."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-term_effects_of_alcohol#Dehydration
Lowly
In times of pollution, infection and plague beer was used instead of water throughout Europe, as unprocessed water was just unsafe. Beer was drunk constantnly by everyone. This led to the European custom of drinking beer or wine lightly at the noon meal being acceptable, and a body chemistry such that when their descendants primarily in the US came to Japan EN MASSE, they were admired and envied for being TSUYOI at drinking alcohol.
I personally don't like beer, EXCEPT when it is this hot. (I'm a wine drinker, if you need to know...)
Crack one open ebbybody
lucabrasi
@CrazyJoe
Take it up with Professor Ron Maughan (Aberdeen University, School of Medicine) who has researched the subject extensively, and published his results in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Beer is not a cause of dehydration.
CrazyJoe
No matter what alcoholic beverage you drink, remember alcohol is a diuretic and always drink a glass of water between each glass of alcohol.
CrazyJoe
I do not believe in the findings of just one professor. All other studies indicate that alcohol is a diuretic.
Moderator
Back on topic please.
basroil
Good thing today was ocean day, if not power consumption would have been through the roof. KEPCO already expects tomorrow to be over 24GW because of it (95% of pre-Oi capacity). Lets hope it doesn't get hotter around August like normal.
CrazyJoe
Some alcoholic beverages, such as beer and red wine, contain purines and can lead to high levels of uric acid in the blood in addition to dehydration.
Thomas Anderson
Except that KEPCO just turned off 8 power plants (total 3.4 GWh).
Ms. Alexander
I hope school teachers are monitoring kids that play outside.
Saving electricity is essential but saving your life is even more important. Turn the a/c on and just it at a reasonable temperature. "Gaman" is just insane!
nandakandamanda
On the thruway early today and the external temp gauge registered 36 degrees. I set the aircon in the car to 26, but the constant cool,breeze was actually too cold, so I moved it up to 27.
That is one degree short of the J gov 28 degrees recommendation, set years before Fukushima, when they were repeatedly asking for maximum sacrifice from everyone, even with the NPPs running!!!
TokyoGas
Hot weather... The dragonflies have hatched and are out in full force. They were buzzing my area of the Tamagawa. Also the cicadas started their song. I heard the first one on Saturday, near the Tamagawa too.
basroil
zichiJul. 16, 2012 - 07:28PM JST
27GW supply, compared to 25GW max a month ago, on a national holiday. Tomorrow is expected to be 86% on 28GW, or 92%+ before Oi restart. Good thing they got Oi back and running before this heat wave!
Fadamor
False. Just as false as the claim that sugared soft drinks will dehydrate you. Gatorade is high in fructose, sucrose, and glucose, yet is proven to be one of the most effective re-hydrators available.
True. From a study by the Center for Human Nutrition in Omaha (Nebraska) that was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition:
(Quote Source: http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp)
ihope2eatwhales
Of course, CrazyJoe is right. Only beer will dehydrate. But you can drink cold water, or mugi-cha instead. No need to use air conditioner too much. Edo era people did not use it, we can basically survive without it as well.
Save electricity, then maybe we can prove nuclear energy is not required.
nandakandamanda
Keep the bathwater from the night before and have a morning dip. Very refreshing.
Use wet towels on the head during the day.
My wife makes me take my watch and socks off when I come home. This must be inherited wisdom.
noriyosan73
Now what protesters? 600 + in the hospital for heat exhaustion. Think about the elderly who need help.
Thomas Anderson
That's because people were outside doing something stupid under the blazing sun. And it didn't cause black outs or anything so people were free to use their electricity.
But we should really be blaming nuclear for failing to deliver safe and stable energy as they have promised.
basroil
Thomas AndersonJul. 17, 2012 - 12:20PM JST
KEPCO is at 89% capacity (100% pre-Oi capacity) today and it's not as hot as yesterday. Their estimate was just 86% use, so I guess those 15% cuts just aren't working are they. Looks like a few more days of this weather and we might see blackouts next time there's a heat wave.