Temperatures above 40 degrees in Japan, heatstroke warnings issued

At 11:42 a.m. local time, the temperature in Hamamatsu city in Shizuoka Prefecture, on the east coast of Honshu, was 40.2 degrees Celsius (104.4 degrees Fahrenheit), public broadcaster NHK reported.

Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius were also recorded after 1 p.m. in Sano in Tochigi Prefecture – thermometers showed 40.4 degrees Celsius. In Tatebayashi in Gunma Prefecture, the thermometers showed 40.1 degrees Celsius. Even before noon, in many cities in the regions neighboring Tokyo, the mercury columns showed temperatures reaching 38.7 degrees Celsius.

Japan's meteorological agency and environment ministry have issued a “heat stroke warning” for 38 of 42 prefectures from Tohoku to Kyushu. Residents in these areas should avoid going out, use air conditioning indoors and drink water with added salt, authorities said. The previous record high temperature in Japan is 41.1 degrees, which was set in Kumagaya in Saitama Prefecture on July 23, 2018, and in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture on August 17, 2020, NHK reminds. Health ministry statistics provided by the Japan Times show that the number of deaths caused by heat stroke has increased from an average of 201 people per year in 1995-1999 to nearly 1,300 in 2018-2022.