Temperatures top 35 degrees for 2nd straight day

make provision for extra beds in the hospitals, because people here get heatstroke when temp is 20C+

Zichi, sorry but fluid intake is cool, but if you add ALCOHOL it actually only makes you feel hotter, no matter how cold your beer, sure tastes good, don't it?? Need to buy more limes for my Coronas! Kanpai and stay safe and please NOT NOT WEAR BLACK CLOTHES, only makes you hotter!!

@Elbuda

Regardless of temperature, alcohol makes everything BETTER....

"make provision for extra beds in the hospitals, because people here get heatstroke when temp is 20C+"

Yeah.....?? Some of the thoughts on this forum never cease to amaze me.

35 in late May. Get ready for another record setting summer heat wave.

Too bad the PM 2.5 is so high or I could open the windows. Don`t want the AC but no choice with kids.

Blimey, just get a fan, drink lots of fluids and wear appropriate clothing. No need for aircon, it's not even humid.

I haven't cracked the AC yet, and am still using a fan, but I have to say I'm getting close. Walked out of my apartment to go to the gym this afternoon and when I walked into the sunlight I felt like I got hit by a sledgehammer. I dread to think of how it will be when the humidity catches up! I was wearing jeans that are more black than blue and it felt like they were on fire after about half a minute. I'd say it's more the sunlight than the heat.

As for the elderly who passed away, RIP, but seriously, hanging out in a green house or a garden in this heat and sun intensity?

Elbuda: "but if you add ALCOHOL it actually only makes you feel hotter, no matter how cold your beer, sure tastes good, don't it??"

It doesn't make you feel hotter so much as it is a diuretic, and therefore threatens your hydration levels and risk of heat stroke. Anyone sitting out in the sun in this weather would be insane. Anyone doing so drinking beer would be even moreso (not even remotely suggesting that's what zichi is doing). And yeah, it does taste good!

No fan or AC as yet, but worried how the summer will work out, was warm during my 10km walk at lunch-time. Gotten warm very quickly this year and many are struggling to adjust.

It is the humidity that gets to me. RIP to the 2 elderly.

A greenhouse was possibly not the best place to be today. RIP, 74-year-old lady. And I'm in with Zichi here - icy-cold beers (and cider) by the gallon today!

I've never quite brought into that idea that drinking cold beer makes you hotter. How can that be? In the winter if I am drinking beer I start to feel cold once I have litre or so in me. I think it is an olds wives tale mixed in with a bit of puritan belief. Hot weather - drink cold be I say.

I read a forecast that this summer won't be as long and punishing as last year's. 35 degrees at the end of May doesn't bode well but the temperature is forecast to drop after tomorrow. I don't want to sound cruel, but a greenhouse in temperatures over 30 isn't the best place to be.

I'm amazed at some criticizing people for being susceptible to heat. If you have a medical condition or are elderly, or if you are performing physical activity it doesn't take much to get heatstroke. And that's even if you think the temperature isn't so hot outside.

The last two days have been very, very hot - lots of people should be staying inside, and everyone should stay hydrated and dress appropriately.

I may not survive this summer.

make provision for extra beds in the hospitals, because people here get heatstroke when temp is 20C+"

Yeah.....?? Some of the thoughts on this forum never cease to amaze me.

i agree with you but my comment was not for amusement, rather serious concern due to recent report here on JT on 27th May : " 291 taken to hospital for heatstroke in one week " when temp had not reached 30C even.

Pandabelle: I am elderly and do have a medical condition (heart), but am not having any problems at the moment as I take care when I go out (5 hours today shopping and getting a hair cut), wear a hat and carry lots of fluids. Please don't say that people like me should simply be "staying inside" -- what do you think we are —— brain dead? Actually, one of the reasons that we are elderly is that we know how to look after ourselves.

The time is right for Dancing in the Streets.

35 degrees C? How hot in F? 35 * 1.8 +32 = 95 degrees F. It is pretty hot. Especially in places that is not dry.

Tokyo was cover in snow in mid February 2014 now the heat. Not sure, which one is worse? This can have a positive effect on population growth. Since people are not going out other activity may increase at home. Life too short stop complaining just enjoys it.

I use to drive a race car, in a nomex suit in the summer. During my training, we were warned to constantly intake fluids. Beer is a diuretic and of course is not good for driving but will dehydrate a person in the heat. If your not urinating regularly, your not drinking enough water. A race car becomes an oven in 100 degree F.

No worries, the meteorological agency has been telling us for weeks that it will be a Reika 冷夏, or cold summer.

One or two nice cool showers is a great way to cool down. So nice to be able to select exactly 32 degrees at my house just by pushing buttons.

Somebody said something about appropriate clothing. My opinion is that the answer is none or next to none but oh, legal issues. Stupid legal issues. And cannot even go shirtless without some Japanese screaming "Hadaka!". Not smart.

As for cold beers, I think its good if you have some water in between. Otherwise short term gain long term loss. My suggestion is Volvic out of the refrigerator. Forget ice and tap water, especially ice made from tap water.

You call that hot Come to Australia in Summertime then you will Know what hot is . The**** main thing to do is keep the fluids up and added electrolyte's. That is the way of avoiding heat stress..

"No worries, the meteorological agency has been telling us for weeks that it will be a Reika 冷夏, or cold summer."

Unfortunately they don't know jack. It's going to be another hot, humid summer.

I hope this means that kids track meets and sporting events are cancelled, y'know, for health and safety reasons?

@philsandoz

Please don't say that people like me should simply be "staying inside" -- what do you think we are —— brain dead? Actually, one of the reasons that we are elderly is that we know how to look after ourselves.

Critical reading skills, Phil, before you jump down my throat here. I said:

If you have a medical condition or are elderly, or if you are performing physical activity it doesn't take much to get heatstroke.

Followed by:

The last two days have been very, very hot - lots of people should be staying inside

At no point did I say all the elderly should be staying inside. Lots of people with medical conditions who are especially susceptible to heat should, though. I don't know you or know whether or not you should, I'm quite sure you know what you should and shouldn't do. My mother is one that should (she overheats easily due to medication she takes) and many young children should not be playing outside.

Sure was the first hot day of the year. Bye bye May and the best month weather-wise in Japan.

Ron Barnes, I am sure Australia is hot, aggressively so.

But we are discussing Japan here at the end of May, before the rainy season has even started. 35 degrees is unusual, and for people not prepared it has grown pretty hot pretty quickly. If you do not know what a Japanese summer can be like wait until August. It's pretty unpleasant, very humid, but great for poaching your eggs.

@smithinjapan!

Damn - I'm pleased I'm not you!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It was warm today. But, it's nice this evening.

Pandabelle: I'm terribly sorry. On reading your first mail, I thought you were simply being condescending to all us elderly and telling us all to stay inside during hot weather. After reading your second mail, however, I realize you are simply saying that some of us, like your mother, are incapable of deciding whether or not to go out. And have to agree with you that Japanese children should not be allowed to go out to play in the hot weather; after all, allowing them to do so is probably one of the reasons that the Japanese have such low longevity.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the heat is being caused by a lingering high-pressure system.

It should say the higher than usual heat is being caused by human induced climate change.

Bw careful everyone! I hope the coaches aren't pushing the jr. high and high school students and not allowing them to drink water this year.

It can get freaking hot in California too, but the difference is less humidity which makes a HUGE difference in how you feel, and that generally the temperature plummets at night so you at least get some partial relief. I remember the relentless heat day and night in Tokyo, no break for months. It can get pretty miserable.

Don;t they use alcohol to warm up? I mean friendship and body heat. Cold water and iced tea work fine with me. Dip in familu pool or go to lake or river to dip. Not Irish tea but iced green tea, lipton, and there are variety of fruit flavored tea. they smell better than beer.

Elbuda Mexicano Jun. 01, 2014 - 03:54PM JST and please NOT NOT WEAR BLACK CLOTHES, only makes you hotter!!

... actually, black clothes make you cooler. Yes, they absorb heat from the sun, the direct heat from the sun isn't our problem, it is the heat our bodies are generating. Now if you're wearing white the heat radiated from your body is bounced right back at your skin, which means you have a cooling problem. If you're wearing black the heat radiated from your body is absorbed by your clothes, which are then cooled by the breeze or aircon, or the sweat absorbed in the fabric.

Want proof? Look at desert tribes, who mostly wear black, or the skin tone of people in hot countries.

Also, black doesn't show sweat stains as easily, whereas white not only shows sweat, but yellows and stains much more easily.

Over here in the States my temperatures will hit near 37.8℃ today but as I have solar panels I just turned on my second window air conditioner. From this point on it only gets hotter. I started installing solar panals over a decade ago when my electric bill climbed higher than $200 sometimes $300 a month. [over 30,000¥] As far as I am concerned it is a health issue. Like the little desert critters I stay inside during the day time most of the time.

Isn't this all indicating that El Niño will be causing a cool summer as was forecast a while back? That's got to be a blessing in disguise at the very least...

It's usually not this hot in late May / early June. Even if this summer somehow follows the predictions and stays cooler than average (which I highly doubt), I predict another disgusting August and September.

@philsandoz

After reading your second mail, however, I realize you are simply saying that some of us, like your mother, are incapable of deciding whether or not to go out. And have to agree with you that Japanese children should not be allowed to go out to play in the hot weather; after all, allowing them to do so is probably one of the reasons that the Japanese have such low longevity.

How did you make it this far in life being so bitter and rude, Phil? Did you not read:

I don't know you or know whether or not you should, I'm quite sure you know what you should and shouldn't do.

And yet you still give that snarky response? Did you even bother to read what I wrote, or are you just making up what you wanted me to say rather than what I actually said? Two replies to me, two times you seem to not be able to understand what I wrote. Is the heat getting to you, Phil?

actually, black clothes make you cooler

Actually, not. Black clothes absorb heat from the sun, as you pointed out. But black clothes absorb heat in much greater volumes than your body is able to radiate. Drinking alcohol is another way to get a quick heatstroke due to rapid dehydration of body.

Look at desert tribes who mostly wear black

Desert tribes mostly wear white clothes. Another important thing is what their details of clothes are made of. For instance, in summer time I wear a polo-shirt and trousers, made of cotton and linum. Therefore, I feel myself enough comfortable during summer heat waves with high humidity. Instead of alcoholic drinks or cold water, I prefer to drink hot tea with a slice of lemon. Hot tea makes you sweat and due to physical basics your body gets cooling. The receipt of mentioned 'people of deserts of Middle Asia'.

Come to Okinawa. Okinawa and Hokkaido have been the cool spots several times in the last couple of weeks. We are now in our rainy season so the humidity is really, really high but not hot yet. After the rainy season, it will get a bit hotter and dryer. Still, Okinawa is often one of the cooler spots throughout most of the summer. Only Hokkaido is often cooler.

SidekickJun. 02, 2014 - 09:42AM JST Actually, not. Black clothes absorb heat from the sun, as you pointed out. But black clothes absorb heat in much greater volumes than your body is able to radiate.

http://io9.com/5903956/the-physics-that-explain-why-you-should-wear-black-this-summer

The physics is simple. With white clothing you're reflecting the heat back at your body and preventing it from escaping, while ambient heat continues to make you hotter. With black clothing you're drawing the heat out of the body to the surface where it can be dissipated by any breeze.

Desert tribes mostly wear white clothes.

That is simply the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Have you ever worn a white shirt in a desert? I sincerely doubt it, because within half an hour it would be brown, as well as drenched in sweat and sticking to you. Googled images are grossly misleading, but if you've actually visited any desert you'll notice very quickly that the locals wear dark colors, dark browns, dark reds, or black, and the clothing is normally loose-fitting to allow air to circulate.

Just the idea of trying to keep white clean in a desert... well, it is clear you've never been near one.

I suppose by July we'll be having 40 degree days and 35 degree nights.

With black clothing you are drawing the heat out of the body...

As I said before, your black clothes will absorb much more heat than your body could radiate. Therefore, you body will not get an appropriate cooling. The result is higly predictable. Plain and simple. Let's make an experiment. You may wear black jeans and black shirt and stay for 30 minutes somewhere in the middle of Japanese city or town. In conditions of 35 C with high humidity. I'd like to watch on it.

This is simply the most ridiculous thind I've ever read.

Because you seem to be a theorist who watched a real desert in TV programs of NatGeo.

Have you ever worn a white shirt in a desert ?

Yes, of course. Have you ever heard of Kazakhstan? I was there. Furthermore, nowadays it's about 35 or sometime 38 C afternoon here, with high humidity. I wear white clothes, made of cotton. Walking on streets, I feel myself enough comfortable for this particular season.

SidekickJun. 02, 2014 - 09:14PM JST As I said before, your black clothes will absorb much more heat than your body could radiate. Therefore, you body will not get an appropriate cooling.

... repeating it doesn't make it right. Try a simple experiment. Take a piece of black cloth and make it damp (simulating sweating). Blow gently on it (simulating a light breeze). Come back and tell me again that the black cloth will absorb more heat than it can radiate? ... You can't, because it would contradict all the laws of physics. Black fabrics work on the "wicking" principle, drawing heat away from the body and to the surface where breezes can evaporate sweat and make you cooler. White fabrics radiate heat back into the body where it is trapped and makes you hotter. Worse yet they tend to reflect the heat and light up onto your face and neck, resulting in sunburn even when you're wearing a hat... only an utter idiot wears white during summer.

The result is higly predictable. Plain and simple. Let's make an experiment. You may wear black jeans and black shirt and stay for 30 minutes somewhere in the middle of Japanese city or town. In conditions of 35 C with high humidity. I'd like to watch on it.

I do it every summer. Most of my summer clothes are black and I'm cool and comfortable as long as there's the slightest breeze. I also avoid getting burnt, but that's also because I tend to cover up and wear a hat.

Because you seem to be a theorist who watched a real desert in TV programs of NatGeo.

Actually I've lived in hot countries most of my life, countries where the average temperature regularly topped 40 degrees for weeks on end.

Yes, of course. Have you ever heard of Kazakhstan? I was there. Furthermore, nowadays it's about 35 or sometime 38 C afternoon here, with high humidity. I wear white clothes, made of cotton. Walking on streets, I feel myself enough comfortable for this particular season.

Ah, walking in streets in Kazakhstan! So not an actual desert then, you're talking about walking in a town where you can get inside a building out of the sun quite easily, can get a fresh change of clothes and a shower when you begin to overheat.

I've been in the Sahara desert in Egypt where the temperatures soar up to nearly 50 degrees and are regularly up around 46 degrees (high heat, low humidity), and the guides all wore black or dark brown (and yes, I had guides, because only an idiot goes out into the Sahara without a local guide - but only a bigger idiot actually trusts them further than you can throw them).

I've been in Cambodia where it goes from hot (40 degrees+) and dry in April to hot (35+ degrees) and wet in May, and again the locals tend to wear loose silks or cottons in dark colours. Vietnam is the same, with most poorer people (those likely to spend their day working in the sun) wearing black - both because it hides stains and because it is quite cooling.

The reason people are wearing more and more white now is because it is a status symbol, it says, "I can go inside into the cool, and I don't do manual labour so I don't need to worry about getting hot or getting dirty". People who actually need to spend lots of time outdoors wear black, and they wear it to keep cool.

Of course you'd need to get outside of the richer city areas and out into the countryside to see people who actually work all day in the fields, and what they wear, and it seems like your idea of going into a desert is walking around a town in Kazakhstan... and you're basing you whole opinion on what you saw in a town where there's plenty of shade.

Also, you just flat out ignore the article I linked, and just repeated yourself like you believed that saying something enough times could change reality. It can't. Travel a bit more, and this time try to get away from the bar at the hotel and out into the countryside and see what people wear in REALLY hot countries when there's no air conditioning or shade to retreat to. It'll be black or another dark colour. Or hell, just find the nearest Aussie and ask them whether they'd head out wearing a white shirt on a hot day... they'll laugh themselves silly and tell you that the reflected heat off a white shirt is a surefire way to get your neck and face burnt to a crisp even if you're wearing a sensible hat, and that only idiot tourists wear light colours during summer.

Black fabrics work on the "wicking" drawing heat away from the body

More important factor is that black fabrics absorb heat of the sun in much greater volumes than your body is able to radiate or release by sweating.

White fabrics radiate heat back into the body

Oh, it is really insignificant by comparison to ability of white fabrics to reflect heat of the sun. Besides, fabrics such as cotton or linum allow your skin "to breath" freely. Therefore, white fabrics radiate heat "back to body" in less volumes than the same fabrics reflects heat of the sun. Plain and simple. Ask some physician or better read some book where simple physical basics are explained on a rather simple level.

Worse yet they tend to reflect the heat and light onto your face and neck, resulting in sunburn

White fabrics cannot 'reflect light' like a mirror, again, due to basics of physics. Heat is infrared radiation. White fabrics reflect heat. Black fabrics absorb heat, transferring it directly to your body and causing hyperthermia.

...only an utter idiot wears white during the summer.

Nope. Only a complete idiot wears BLACK during summer heat with high humidity.

I do it every summer. Most of my summer cloghes are black and I'm cool and comportable

Then you're making things up or, perhaps have a body temperature of snake.

Ah, walking in streets in Kazakhstan!

First of all, Kazakhstan is a country, not a city. You should watch NatGeo TV programs much more attentively. The country has cities and towns as well as wide desert plains with very high summer temperatures. There is a target zone there, for landing of space crafts. Crews are equipped by a special survival kit, includind food and water in case if case of emergency landing far from target zone. And temperature in desert places rises much more higher, than say 40 C.

I've been in the Sakhara desert ...and the guides all wore black or dark

Perhaps, you found very poor guides whose clothes were black of dirt, eh? Look at Wiki's article about Thawb. This is a traditional Arabic clothing for men. You can see a photograph of Arabian men in white Thawbs right on top of the article. Btw, it wasn't me who wrote the article and posted mentioned picture ;) Will you try to insist that Arabia has no desert places? Furthermore, another article of Wiki depicts a dress of Pashtu people. In particular, the article says :"Pashtun dress of Afganistan and Pakistan is typically made from light linens". Note : "light linens", not black.

The reason people are wearing more and more white it'because of status symbol.

Nope. They wear white or light clothes because they are enough smart to collect knowledge of previous generations and perfectly know how to survive in conditions of summer heat and high humidity.

SidekickJun. 03, 2014 - 09:31AM JST More important factor is that black fabrics absorb heat of the sun in much greater volumes than your body is able to radiate or release by sweating.

You're ignoring convection. Loose-fitting black clothing (like that worn by desert tribes) means that the warmer black fabric sits over your sweat, evaporating the sweat more quickly and creating air flow by moving the humid air around, which results in a cooling effect. This results in a net cooling effect when compared with white fabrics, which may feel cooler to the touch, but aren't actually cooling your body.

Oh, it is really insignificant by comparison to ability of white fabrics to reflect heat of the sun. Besides, fabrics such as cotton or linum allow your skin "to breath" freely. Therefore, white fabrics radiate heat "back to body" in less volumes than the same fabrics reflects heat of the sun. Plain and simple. Ask some physician or better read some book where simple physical basics are explained on a rather simple level.

Not so plain and simple, if you've moved beyond "simple physics" you'll know that the body's primary cooling mechanism is perspiration, and the perspiration works much better with air movement... now look at my point above and you'll see why black clothing is better than white.

White fabrics cannot 'reflect light' like a mirror, again, due to basics of physics. Heat is infrared radiation. White fabrics reflect heat. Black fabrics absorb heat, transferring it directly to your body and causing hyperthermia.

... for someone who just presumed to lecture on the subject of basic physics it is ironic that you cannot understand that light is a form of radiation, as is heat. White clothing can and will reflect infrared reflection, less efficiently than a mirror, but substantially more than black clothing.

Nope. Only a complete idiot wears BLACK during summer heat with high humidity.

So it is your most humble opinion that field workers in Vietnam, Cambodia and other hot countries with high humidity know nothing, and that you, on the basis of your single trip to Khazakstan, know more than generations of workers. Wow, arrogance much?

Then you're making things up or, perhaps have a body temperature of snake.

Actually I hate the heat, but because of physics black keeps me cooler.

Ah, walking in streets in Kazakhstan! First of all, Kazakhstan is a country, not a city. You should watch NatGeo TV programs much more attentively. The country has cities and towns as well as wide desert plains with very high summer temperatures.

But you were in the cities and towns, walking in the STREETS. Clearly English isn't your first language, so here's a quick review, one can go "walking in streets" in any country in the world. All that it means is that you were in the areas of that country where there are streets, i.e. the cities and towns. We use the word "roads" for those bits between towns and cities.

There is a target zone there, for landing of space crafts. Crews are equipped by a special survival kit, includind food and water in case if case of emergency landing far from target zone. And temperature in desert places rises much more higher, than say 40 C.

But you weren't in the desert, you were in the towns.

I've been in the Sakhara desert ...and the guides all wore black or dark Perhaps, you found very poor guides whose clothes were black of dirt, eh? Look at Wiki's article about Thawb. This is a traditional Arabic clothing for men. You can see a photograph of Arabian men in white Thawbs right on top of the article. Btw, it wasn't me who wrote the article and posted mentioned picture ;) Will you try to insist that Arabia has no desert places? Furthermore, another article of Wiki depicts a dress of Pashtu people. In particular, the article says :"Pashtun dress of Afganistan and Pakistan is typically made from light linens". Note : "light linens", not black.

Firstly, light refers to the fabric density, not to the color. I understand you're clearly struggling with English, so it is an understandable mistake for a non-native speaker. Also, I already explained why white is so popular these days, because it is fashionable and a statement of wealth. Your logic is ridiculous, like pointing to someone wearing their Sunday best for a photo shoot and saying, "look, everyone dresses like that all the time!!".

Nope. They wear white or light clothes because they are enough smart to collect knowledge of previous generations and perfectly know how to survive in conditions of summer heat and high humidity.

Ever seen a burka? They've changed very little in the last hundred years. They're almost all black. You're confusing going on google image for 5 minutes with actually visiting a hot country and seeing what people wear.

Readers, you are just going around in circles. That ends discussion on this point.

Remember the animals. Bought special aluminum plates for dogs to lay on. Really cools them. If home, they like to have a shallow pool to splash in after the morning walk (which should be early and off of pavement if possible). Fans on, fresh water, ice cubes if they like them or frozen canned food snacks.

I hang UV cut white curtains OUTSIDE the house on the veranda because it gets really hot. I can sunburn just hanging laundry!

Hope we survive!

School classrooms get almost unbearable!