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Heatstroke cases in Japan have shot up this summer as many air-conditioners have been switched off amid an energy saving campaign following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. More than 13,000 people were rushed to hospital by ambulance in June and for the first half of July, data from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency showed. Twenty-six of them died.
The rise for June alone was three-fold from last year. Of all the heatstroke cases, more than half were over 65 years old.
The sharp rise came amid a sweltering heatwave, when the average temperatures in late June in eastern and western Japan hit their highest levels since such data were first kept in 1961, the agency said.
The mercury has topped 35 degrees Celsius in hundreds of spots across Japan, and the average temperature was about 3.5 degrees Celsius higher than usual, the country's meteorological agency said.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency is urging people to keep room temperatures no higher than 28 degrees Celsius and drink plenty of water. It warned that elderly people need to be cautious even when they stay indoors.
Only 19 of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors are operational four months after the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster sparked the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The government has asked the nation to save power, and homes and companies in the northeast are being asked to cut back usage by 15% in the summer, leading many to cut down on power-guzzling air-conditioners.
© Agence France-Presse
6 Comments
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nath
Due to the earthquakes, tsunami, radioactivity, blackouts, and now this summer heat, I've postponed my Japan trip to the week before Christmas. As much as I love Japan, I'm rather dreading this trip.
sillygirl
why don`t people (especially old people) get together at community centers and sing, play cards, do crafts, whatever - then many people can use the cooling of just one air conditioner.
some14some
I don't see such spots on JT weather chart - showing Tokyo-Osaka-Fukuoka-Sapporo-Nagoya-Naha
gaijintraveller
I think the problem is that people do not dress appropriately for the weather. It is hard to know how to dress in the summer in Japan though. Dress for the weather and you freeze on trains and in air-conditioned buildings.
dolphingirl
Really?! What's going on with the other 20 or so?
Instead of shutting down air conditioners, why aren't companies forced to cut all lights aft 7pm? Seems silly that we still have business men in offices til midnight using up energy. Tell elderly that they should be using air conditioners in extreme heat!
Yubaru
Hate to say this but I told someone so about this. The government has done little if anything to help the elderly in this extreme heat. The local community networks need to get out and start knocking on doors and checking in on their neighbors to ensure that they are ok, particularly with regards to the elderly.
The government asks everyone to conserve, but has no plans to protect those weakest in society.