My wife grew up in and loves the countryside. She hates cities.
I hate both 🙂
She tells me often how in the countryside the heat is a bit more forgiving, and I’ve heard this from other people too. Is it true?
I get that it depends on elevation, how close to the sea, where in the country etc. but I just mean generally I can imagine being out of the city would be different but do you really notice it?
37 comments
Generally speaking, [it’s cooler in the countryside with more trees and vegetation](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/city-hotter-countryside-urban-heat-island-science-180951985). It might not feel like it though depending on the humidity. Also the sea side areas also brings in the sea breeze, which is a plus but also a minus during typhoon season.
It’s like everywhere else in the world.
Countryside = less tar + less concrete + more vegetation = cooler.
Except in the close neighborhood of solar panel farms.
The [“urban heat island”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_heat_island) effect is a well-known phenomenon.
Also, I mean, what’s “the countryside?” If Tokyo people are nostalgic about their summers on an apple farm in Aomori, then yeah, it is probably going to be a bit cooler.
Also, I think summers have been getting noticeably hotter and hotter over time, people are probably comparing current Tokyo summers with their childhood memories of summers in their hometown.
Certainly doesn’t feel cooler, especially with the humidity. I’m a Brit though so anything over 23°c is hot for me.
There’s some story about how they’re gonna demolish some tall building near tokyo building and expect to, as a result, lower the temperature around Tokyo station by like … several tenths of a degree as an effect!
​
But yeah I think that in the countryside you are gonna hve more vegitation and also just like… more wind and stuff.
We have rice paddies around the house, mostly a breeze and often arashi that blows the sentakumono away. 2nd floor bedrooms without AC, very low electricity bill (despite all-denki house) solely cooled down after sunset by opening all windows.
Friend from Tokyo came visiting last weekend and said it’s fresh here despite having 32C. Said Tokyo was close to 40C. She could sleep much better than in her Tokyo apartment.
I guess. We’re talking relative terms here, though. You’ll still wonder if you’ve died and fallen into the 5th circle of Hell during the summer.
If you think about all the electric power being pumped into urban areas and remember that energy will almost always end up as heat, yes, cities will be hotter. And all those giant buildings keeping the air inside them cool at the expense of the outside air, ground surfaces not absorbing any heat, etc., so rural areas will tend to be cooler. Also, rural areas around urban areas in Japan tend to be on elevated land, because all the low lands have been taken up by the city.
Well yeah the hottest temperature here was 32 degrees last summer and it was just a few days. Even though it’s sunny and warm outside the breeze makes it comfortable enough. I was in Tokyo last June and last year August and I couldn’t stand the heat and humidity, there was no breeze too it sucks
Depends on the location. I lived in this little coastal town called Kosai in Shizuoka and today the forecast is 38 degrees, 62% humidity. Osaka: 36, 57%.
It’s cooler if I can get to the edge of the bay, near dense trees and rivers, or higher up in elevation, but I promise it’s still sweltering in the more residential valley areas with simmering rice fields and little shade (doubly so on days with little air movement).
But it’s still not the heat trap that proper cities can be, which is an entirely different phenomenon. Less buildings, glass, concrete, pavement = less to absorb all that sun and heat and radiate it back after the sun goes down. We live in the “city” and even as the sun goes behind the hills, it becomes instantly bearable at dusk because we live on a canal that is constantly moving the air around.
If you’re in the same general region, then yes it’ll probably be cooler in the inaka. Plants and large bodies of water regulate temperature, and urbanization tends to get rid of those – plus, it adds a ton of concrete, tar, and other surfaces that do nothing to slow the heating down and can even accelerate it. If you want cooler weather, you should generally look for more plants, higher altitude, and/or proximity to large bodies of water.
That said, the effects of those things generally aren’t big enough to overcome simple regional differences – moving from a city in Hokkaido to the inaka in Kyushu probably isn’t gonna make things any cooler. Within the same region, it’s true that the more rural, coastal, and/or mountainous areas will probably be the coolest, but geographic location will always be the biggest factor in the climate you experience.
Probably because it’s a peninsula but here near yokosuka it’s always like 5 degrees cooler than Tokyo.
Well I was just in Hakuba last weekend, and yes it was like 10 degrees cooler than Tokyo
I live in a rural district of a city. It has way more shade, less concrete in general, and a river and two great beaches. It’s still hot, but I feel like we’re better equipped than if we were in the city center.
Well… honestly, I don’t think there’s much of a difference and really just depends on the region. In other words, the further north you get, the “less hotter” it gets. However, there are usually more bugs during the summer in the countryside, giant hornets in particular.
I live on a small bayside city and I think the heat is more tolerable here vs. when I took trips to Tokyo/Osaka during summer. Every summer feels warmer and warmer, though.
I’m just in suburban Saitama, but we used to have a patch of woodland near our house. When I cycled home from work on summer nights I could feel the temperature drop a couple of degrees when I turned into the street past the woods. Trees all sadly gone now, for more new housing.
Getting away from concrete is cooler. Going up a mountain is cooler.
Yes, yes it is. The urban heat island effect is only going to get worse over time as all the asphalt & concrete will retain even more heat. I don’t know where the saturation point is for that but we’re not there yet.
Meanwhile, I think I might visit the beach for lunch today.
Yes. In the mountains that run North/South you will also have less direct sunlight. Bonus points if you live on a river where the breeze is chilled by the water.
Countryside is a bit cooler than nearest city. Seaside is better than either. Mountain elevation is much better yet. Hokkaido would be best.
Not even countrysdie, just not in the big city. You can live big city adjacent and take advantage of the cooler environment and close to the connivence of the big city. though it is a bit more difficult with the size of Tokyo.
Karuizawa is good (if expensive) compromise. Both at some altitude and removed from the city
Karuizawa is good (if expensive) compromise. Both at some altitude and removed from the city
I live in a small city in an otherwise very countryside prefecture. It’s hot here, but cooler if I go out to an actual countryside.
But it’s only two degrees, max, and if that’s what you’re looking for, the city with the shade and indoor/underground areas might be better for you.
Toyama is hot af rn.
Anywhere that has more trees is going to be cooler. Trees keep it cool. I live in small rural city and it’s markedly cooler in the city park than anywhere else.
Rural Hokkaido here. As others have said, urban heat islands, so yes. But it’s not idealic summers in the countryside. Even in Hokkaido we have problems every year with kids having to go to the hospital because they got heat stroke during PE. Kids pretty frequently have to go home early because they get ill from the heat in their unairconditioned classrooms. A lot of places (especially public building ie where I live work) still don’t have ac so it routinely gets 30c+ indoors in the summer. Every year more and more of my coworkers have been installing AC in their homes. At this point, people who don’t have it at home are in the minority
I went to the Boso Peninsula in Chiba for the long weekend and it really did feel a good 5 degrees cooler than in central Tokyo. Got blasted by an ocean breeze as soon as I stepped out of the train station. When I got back to Tokyo yesterday afternoon the heat from the asphalt felt like it was melting my legs.
In Amami Oshima at the moment. Much further South and semi-tropical, but by the Sea which cools things down a lot. Seas/oceans have a cooling effect in Summer. Also, a lot of the village seem to go swimming in the evening and that is very cooling.
But my experience of inaka – here and in Ayagawa (Kagawa Prefecture) is that the houses are old. Not bad for keeping cool (lots of air currents) unless it is very humid and still air. But here “cool” means “not fatally hot”. Aircon is impractical because of paper thin walls (in my current room “paper thin” is not a metaphor) as a result it can be tough to work at home during the day.
Though my real impetus for getting an aircon in the most insulated of rooms was that at night I wanted to close windows as all the insects in the world wanted to enter and there’s only so much an amido (+katori senko + mokusaku ++) can do.
I imagine in the big city you have fancy modern houses built in the last 40 years or so and can keep cool when you really need it.
In Ayagawa in Spring/Autumn when other people say it is “hot”, I am often cold. That’s not the place as much as the old building designed to keep cool.
Hills/mountains make a difference too.
The main conversation is about male trees and their pollen. This was so fruit wouldn’t be dropped everywhere. Rotten fruit is a walking, driving, and health hazard.
Breaking up the monoculture doesn’t address the pollen/fruit problem.
I believe covered streets are vitally important. I was recently reading an article linking heated streets to being a source of pm 2.5 in the area. To shade the street with fruit producing trees would mean we need people to constantly be working to keep the roads and walkways safe while also presenting falling hazards to vehicles and pedestrians.
Monocultures are a problem, but that problem isn’t relevant to the discussion.
My weather app tells me that it’s currently 34C but feels like 41C. We even have a heatstroke warning for today.
On the other hand, it says that it’s 37C in Tokyo right now but feels like 43C.
I’m in rural Nara. Even when it’s 35 degrees out, it’s still possible to walk around in the sun because the heat is not reflected back at you from every surface. I can casually (slowly) walk down the road and back at the hottest part of the day without sweating. I wouldn’t exercise or work in the yard though.
The same weather in Shinjuku and I would be drenched in sweat after walking from an office to the nearest combini and it would feel like I was in a convection oven.
Really depends on which city you’re in and which country side, for comparison. Too many variables at play
Big urban areas like Tokyo and parts of Osaka have a heat island effect, where heat is trapped due to all the AC running, lack of greenery, etc. So temperatures there are higher than normal.
a “country” side location that’s nearby with a similar environment should be a bit cooler.
But it ultimately depends on the area. A town on a mountain or hill (where many country side towns are) may be cooler due to being higher elevation.
A town in a valley (such as in some parts of Kyoto) might actually be hotter. Fukushima has towns with really hot summers due to its location in a valley.
Cooler? Yes?
Cool? No. It’s still hot as balls
Yes and no.
I never found living in the inaka to be cooler per se, but it was a different kind of heat offset in a few different ways.
In my case, my house was on the side of a mountain so there wasn’t really that sort of still, stagnant heat thanks to the breeze. The trees helped as well, and overall it was almost a sort of pleasant heat with the sound of insects and scent of the vegetation.
Whereas in the city, the heat doesn’t really have anything to redeem it and it’s just bleh and unpleasant.