Is anyone else who has been in Japan a long time really feeling the warming up of summers here? I read somewhere that global warming is advancing in Japan at one of the fastest rates in the world, and I certainly do feel as if the summers here have got significantly hotter since I came in 2004.
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It could be that my age and the humidity makes it feel like the climb in temperature is larger than it is, but I really do feel way more uncomfortable than I used to. Last night, waiting at the station, I almost jumped on the local train instead of my usual express (which was only a few minutes later) just to get into the aircon as quickly as possible. That’s the first time I have considered doing that.
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No deep point to this post, and you’ll probably say ‘Well, duh’ when you read it, but I was hoping to see some reactions from different parts of the country. Maybe it’s hitting harder in some places than in others.
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This feels like August weather at the moment and we are in July. Supposed to be 37° today and tomorrow in Tokyo. I can’t remember and official forcast going that high in previous years. Usually we get 35° and then in certain areas you hear on the news they made 37° or 38°, especially in Saitama. I guess we are going to see some 40° places on the news tonight or tomorrow.
I live in Tohoku (Sendai area to be specific) and, yeah, summers are getting hotter here even in the north. 30+c degree temperatures are starting to be the norm, at least where I am. My elderly coworkers used to tell me that decades ago the hottest day they’ve ever experienced was like a 27c and was only for like a few days during the summer. Late summer, too. Like near the end of August. But now, it gets hot early and *stays* hot until the end of September/early October.
Thank the heavens that my current apartment has A/C because I would be screwed if I stayed in my previous one. I am trying not to rely too much on it but it’s just too hot and humid for me. I love my A/C too much. :<
It’s pretty damn hot. I do feel like it’s hotter than last year.
A person would pretty much have to be insane to be outside of their own accord at this moment. Some friends invited me to go on a hike with them and it wasn’t immediately obvious that they were actually serious about it.
I’ve had 2 seperate drunk oji tell me in the last week that “It didn’t use to be so atsui mr gaijin san”
The ministry for the [future](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_for_the_Future) is a relaxing read…
I used to live in Sapporo and summer was around 24c lol. Now is 30?
In Osaka for 8 years and I remember 32-33c , fan only ok. last 3 years were really hot 35c feel 42c. It awful and I can’t sleep with no AC.
In Sapporo, summers got colder in the last 3 years, but probably warmer if you look 30 years in the past.
In 2021 we had record breaking 35°C days, in 2022 it was around 30 – 32°C max and this year I don’t remember a single 30°C day so far. I took many screenshots of the weather last year, and while in 2021 we were having 27°C+ in May, this year we were still below 20°C average in may.
Niigata is scorching hot too.. I’ll stay at home 99% of the time until it’s over
Currently 37.9 here in northern Mie.
Yes, it’s definitely getting hotter. A couple of years ago, 2021 I think it was, it stayed really hot until late November. I remember thinking at the time that this is not normal.
My wife who is the same age as me (late 40s) often says that when she was young the summer was hot but nowhere near as bad as it is now.
I seriously feel like within 5-10 years there will be like 1-2 months of the year that we literally can’t go outside (or inside with no air conditioner) for more than 5-10 minutes because it’s too insanely hot. Better start looking for an apartment or home within a very short walk to the station… or have a car
Absolutely. And when you think about how plants are less able to adapt to the heat and how that will affect Japan’s crops when we already import so much of our food, and how the animals living outside are impacted as well… It’s grim.
I haven’t been here that long, but I live in the inaka and have a ton of older friends and colleagues in their 50s, 60s, 70s. They say summer days rarely went above 25 let alone 30. It’s 35 today.
I was just thinking this because for Gion Matsuri today, they have chairs set up where you can buy tickets and sit and watch the festival. Chairs in direct sunlight, NO shade, 36C heat… and there were people carted off to hospital with heatstroke. I just kept thinking it’s an absolutely insane thing to willingly do.
But then if that’s what the organisers have done for years, I assumed that it wasn’t so torturous in the past because it didn’t used to be so bloody hot. Now seems like a totally different story tho
It appears that Japan is very roughly 1°C warmer, year-round, than it was in 1950, but with much higher standard deviation.
https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/japan/trends-variability-historical
I do equestrian sports in Aichi. The max temp for today said 39c so I decided to go out at 8 in the morning and get it over with before the heat hit. The forecast claimed it would be 28c at that time. That was a mistake. We went back to the stables asap and I had to hose us both down before it was 9 am. Checked the thermometer and it said 35c. 35c at 9 in the morning.
I can’t even imagine what August will bring.
It’s not only Japan either. Europe is literally burning. There’s a few spots around the Mediterranean Sea that hit 42c in the last few days. I remember my childhood summers and we’d only have a few days that barely breached 30c. Hell, carrying around flimsy cardigans to wear after sundown was the norm. Now people are baking in their houses.
Definitely is growing hotter. I was here since the mid 80’s as a kid and the temperature is just crazy hot for this early in the year. I fear what the future will bring.
I used to think that my body just couldn’t stand the heat anymore due to aging, but I wonder if it is actually getting hotter. 20 years or so ago, even during the very hot summer months, I don’t think I would have been so uncomfortable as long as I kept hydrated.This year it is so hot that I feel like I am in mortal danger if I go outside at midday.
Oh yes it is. Been here over 20 years now, it’s definitely hotter.
And as the heat increases the humidity increases as well. That there is the deadly combination.
I lived in Fukuoka some 9 years ago and it wasn’t as hot and the rains were not as crazy. Global warming is not just heat, it’s generally more energy in the atmosphere. Stronger winds, rain, tornadoes, and even cooler on winter because the air moves faster from cold areas.
Now I live in Saitama and this place always had days with 38C. But never so often and so long. Now we have heatwaves when the night temperature barely drops into comfortable range. It’s 30C even at 9pm…
This was the biggest culture shock I had when I came back last year, for reference I was out of Japan for about 3 years, i lived here for 8 years.
Soon as I stepped out of the plane, BAM heat and humidity By the time we’ve made it to our connecting flight, I was drenched in sweat.
It USED to snow in my area.
Last week I wore cheap plimsolls in Meguro – around noon the soles started melting and sticking to the asphalt like chewing gum.
I like summers and dont dislike the humidity that much but even I felt unwell yesterday. I started feeling a bit dizzy and wondering if I might get a heatstroke.
Stepping outside feels like you are opening the oven door and the hot air gets released into the air. I see people jogging around in the morning / afternoon when it’s 30+ degrees and it just seems crazy to me. Even if you are in good shape this just seems like a really risky thing to do.
Last year (at least around Kanto) we basically had no rainy season and this year’s rains were also quite scarce. Anyone else feel that too?
Came to Japan 5 yrs ago, I could take the heat while riding a bike en route from my apartment to my language school. Now I feel like walking 10 minute under the sun is the fastest way to kill yourself.