Hot weather returns to Japan as mercury surpasses 35 C at 235 locations

TOKYO -- A hot spell returned to Japan on Aug. 22 with the mercury hitting at least 35 degrees Celsius at 235 observation points across the nation, and the hottest temperature of the day was 39.7 degrees recorded in Sakai Ward in the western city of Sakai in Osaka Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The hot weather was especially intense in western and northwestern Japan where nine out of the top 10 temperatures for the country had been marked by 3:20 p.m. Those cities included the western city of Fukuchiyama in Kyoto Prefecture, where the mercury reached an historic high of 39.6 degrees, as well as the city of Toyama in the northwest which marked 39.5 degrees, another record for the location.

Meanwhile, the heat stress index, a measurement of the risk of heat illness published by the Ministry of the Environment, was high in northern prefectures such as Iwate, Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata, all reaching the "dangerous" level at the top of the five-stage scale at 10 observation points with the highest temperatures for the day.

(Mainichi)