What’s the actual experience of a Japanese summer like?

49 comments

1. Humidity

2. Most of the country is hot and humid.

3. More humid than south east asia. Far North Queensland humidity @ Brisbane temps. Was 36C until mid Oct last year.

4. You’ll notice a theme over the years in /r/japanlife:

   https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/q3lbau/its_still_so_damn_humid_in_japan/

   https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/objxwv/summers_are_so_humid_but_acs_are_so_expensive_how/

   https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/ggwxix/what_are_your_japan_summer_must_haves_to_survive/

   https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/8vhr35/what_are_some_ways_you_cope_with_the_unbearably/

   https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/52751j/will_i_ever_adjust_to_the_humidity_or_will_i/

5. It’s not (just) the heat, it’s humidity. I live in Singapore, and it’s positively cool here compared to the airless sweaty armpit that is Tokyo in summer.

6. Humidity is one thing. You being Australian used to on average higher temperatures is another.

7. It’s like summer in Alabama with less air conditioning, insulation, and weather stripping. Except the winters are also much worse.

8. Im from southern california, so i know heat. I was not ready for the humidity lol.

9. Really hot and humid.
   If you’re from a warmer country I don’t think it’s too crazy (Japanese summers are like my summers back home, but a tad more humid), but a lot of my friends from relatively colder places really suffered.

   I bought an umbrella for wherever I walk around in summer, still hot but it becomes so much easier to function.

10. Shite.

11. Depends where you are. Kyoto and Nagoya are *horrible*.

    Tokyo’s not very nice either, but it’s a step down in awfulness from those two.

12. Temperature doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s the temperature combined with suffocating humidity, lack of wind, incessant chirping of cicaidas, air conditioners set to 28℃ if they’re on at all, poor insulation/ventilation, etc. It’s like being in a sauna fully clothed but it follows you everywhere you go.

13. As a fellow Aussie, unless you are used to Queensland summers it can be a bit of a shock. It’s about the same heat wise as Australia but it can often be oppressively humid, particularly at night.

14. Hot and humid. Makes autumn all the more rewarding!

15. A lot of the buildings are poorly insulated and most lack central air. If you’re in an office building it may be different, but for those of us working in schools you go from a hot house, bike down a hot road, then work in a hot classroom with forty overheated students. It kinda sucks. I think Aus is like the states where a lot of people experience the weather in little bursts before getting in their car or walking into work. Here it never ends!

16. Ever spent much time up in Cairns or Darwin? Like that, except if you’re in a city everything is concrete.

17. You can’t escape it. And there is almost no central air conditioning to be had outside of large buildings. Schools here don’t usually bother with it…mostly running with the doors and windows open.

    In Texas, it gets hotter and in places at least as humid. Houston can be a complete swamp that will leave you swimming through the air at times. In South Texas it can be 38 degrees at f-ing midnight.

    But nobody in Texas “walks” around outside in summer, unless you’re going to the beach. You run to your air conditioned car, you run inside your overly cooled office building or into the supermarket and stay out of it. In Japan, you can not avoid the sun.

    Here you have to walk/bike to the station, wait outside on the platform, and walk from the station to your office or to the mall. I keep an extra t-shirt in my desk just in case I need to swap things out. I don’t think I even bothered with undershirts back home, tbh.

18. Imagine standing on the surface of the sun. Now imagine you’re in a rubber suit so none of your sweat can escape…

    Yeah like that.

19. Personally I love summer in Japan. It’s my favorite season by far. I wear shorts & tshirts all day every day, and sometimes just the shorts. Shoes? WTF are shoes. Don’t use the aircon much, just have the windows open all the time.

    I’ve lived here quite a long time and I guess I’ve adapted. I remember my first few summers were pretty miserable.

    If I had to wear a suit and commute during the summer I’d probably feel pretty different but I WFH and no one gives any f#cks about what I wear or don’t wear. Summer is the best.

20. It is painfully humid

21. Unless you go to Hokkaido, summer is super humid in Japan. And even 30°C is pretty awful with high humidity. I grew up the South of France so I know about high temps. Nothing prepared me for the high humidity though. Actually, the first time I went to Japan was during late July and when I got off the plane, I felt like I was in a sauna. I quickly understood why they put drink vending machines everywhere over there, but you really need to drink a lot as soon as you spent time outside. I usually don’t sweat much but I was a real fountain over there.

    Thankfully, A/C is everywhere so once you get into a building, you’re fine.

    Note that as I have mentioned above, Hokkaido is fine. I went during summer 2019 and it was very pleasant. Not too hot and relatively low humidity.

22. I’d been to Japan in the summer twice prior and must’ve put it out of my head how hot it was, because I booked a summer trip in 2018 thinking “it doesn’t get thaaat hot.”

    It does get that hot.

23. The temperature is fine. It’s hot, but fine. It’s the humidity which is the true killer.

    For example, I went home a few years ago in the middle of a heat wave. I was absolutely fine even though it was 35 degrees outside (though everybody else wasn’t). Then I flew back to Japan. It was 28 degrees when I got off the plane (in the morning), but I was immediately melting. It all comes down to the humidity.

    It’s also way hotter in recent years than it used to be in the past, from what people tell me. Gotta love global warming!

24. The temps don’t tell the whole story. If you haven’t lived in like Africa or SE Asia you will be surprised how unpleasant the humidity can make it feel even if the temperature is otherwise mild. The air just kind of sits on your skin and your body heat has nowhere to go. If you sweat, you get slimy.

    It’s basically oppressive and unpleasant from end of June through the end of October in the Tokyo area. Not necessarily gonna kill you. But not enjoyable. I basically don’t have any garments made of cotton in my entire wardrobe anymore, it’s all moisture-wicking poly and merino wool (when I can get it).

    I am from the mid-atlantic US where the temps actually tend to have high peaks in the summer months, but it never really feels as unrelenting as it does here. Also, weird thing I have experienced, the sun just seems to press down more.

25. tldr: its going to be less heat than aus, but vastly more humid
    it really depends on what part of japan you’re in. hokkaido gets mild summers, pretty much all of honshu and kyushuu get humid death summers, especially in the middle areas away from the coast. im not sure about shikoku, but there’s likely someone that can illuminate. the big cities are typically more death humid than the rural towns because the big buildings block airflow.

    behind the scenes, you’re likely not going to spend enough time outside to acclimate to the temp because stores/offices/trains keep their temps near 20 or so, so the contrast is tantamount to satan’s butthole every time you open a door.

26. Only summer I have spent there was a record heat wave in 2018. I’d like to not see that again as a 5 minute walk would leave you soaked in your own sweat.

    I’m a bit further south for my second one and I’m hoping it’s not as bad.

27. Meh. Not half as bad as Central Florida summertime, far from the cooling coasts. But you’re not likely to have been there.

    Darwin was hotter but drier, Indonesia far more humid but breezy. I live in Kobe, find it excellent here. Maybe much like Brisbane weather—I love it here, been here since 2006.

    I have visited Okinawa and Fukuoka in summertime several times. If you dress for it, and expect it, it ain’t bad here in Japan. (But that doesn’t keep many people from complaining…)

    Kyoto is stuck up in the mountains, and gets F—king hot, with no sea breezes, either. Can’t believe that place used to be the capitol city. Other than that, compared to my Japan experience, Singapore was like, WTF? Am I back in Florida?

28. Moist. Like really moist.

29. It’s actually my favorite season in Japan. The temperature in the evenings is perfect and there are lots of festivals going on.

30. Wait until August mate. Here in Osaka humidity will hit 100% with temp ranging 39 – 42 Celsius, now think about that humidity for a minute 😅. You don’t have to do anything just simply sit or stand you will have free saunas.

31. You’ll be fine.

    If you’ve ever been to the Bible Belt area in the US (Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, etc.), the summer in Japan will be just like that. It’ll be hot and muggy, and you’ll need to rehydrate often, but it’s definitely not as bad as Southeast Asia where you constantly drip sweat.

    The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, etc. is way hotter and more humid.

32. #It’s H.E.L.L.

33. Imagine walking into a sauna.

    That is Japan’s summer

34. I feel that this song captures the experience pretty accurately:

    https://youtu.be/LJwR4iHxKV0

35. Hokkaido is great in the summer.

36. Just imagine you are hot and sweaty so you take a cold shower only to find out your new towel is just as hot and sweaty as you were before you took the shower.

37. 95 degree heat with 100% humidity feels like 120.

    You sweat immediately, but with high humidity, it can’t evaporate off you to help cool you. It is…ew

38. It’s gorgeous. Cicadas are amazing. Just carry a cloth for the humidity and embrace the heat. Go to festivals.

39. Ive spent every summer of my life in Japan and people say that the humidity is bad, but if you get used to it it’s nothing. At most it’s inconvenient if you don’t want your hair to mess up or sweat if you’re wearing lots of clothes.

    Actually when we have to wear a mask you are sweating wildly inside your mask on your face which isn’t nice.

    Also it really depends which part of Japan you are in. If you’re in Tokyo obviously it will be worse because the concrete and buildings are reflecting heat and radiation and there is no nature or water. But in the countryside, summer is so fresh and much cooler than Tokyo.

    Also the vibe in the summer is much more energetic than all the other seasons because of all the festivals and matsuri, and all the kids are on holiday and also Obon is a long holiday in August. Mood is low during Tsuyu and spikes up at the start of summer season in my opinion.

40. As an American that travelled to Osaka to visit family ever year of my life… its hot as balls. Its “Mushi atsui”

    Walking outside is like walking into a steam room with the power of the sun constantly beating you in the face.

41. You’ll see women put blankets on their knees at their desks because of the air conditioning.

42. Midnight is as hot as mid-day. There is no relief only sweat. If it rains the rain is warm. Then it evaporates. Then it’s even more humid.

43. Hot and wet! That’s nice if you’re with a lady, but it ain’t no good if you’re in the jungle.

    -Roosevelt E. Roosevelt, 1987

44. We were there in July 2018 during a historic heat wave. 100 degrees in Tokyo feels very different than 100 degrees in Arizona. The humidity is so brutal. On vacations we like to wander around and eat. The heat made wandering not an option as we needed a clear destination that we knew had AC. And the heat made us less hungry. Fish markets were obviously really gross lol

45. I was there in May (and the first week in June) and that was hot and humid enough for me to feel like i was dying. I can’t even imagine the actual summer.

46. Humidity makes a bigger difference than you’d think.

47. Wet. Between humidity, cramped sweaty conditions and typhoons, be prepared to have persistently wet clothes, laundry that stinks when it’s “dry,” and a never-ending battle against mold and mildew.

    Better in the temperate north, where the summer doesn’t continue unabated through the first month of fall.

48. Avoid Mid June to Mid September.

49. 暑い