14 Dead, More Than 6,000 Hospitalized In Japan Heat Wave

Sean Breslin
Published: July 22,2015

At least 14 people died and 6,165 were hospitalized last week across Japan during a heat wave that has gripped the country for several weeks, officials said.
In some areas, temperatures have reached the triple digits, dangerously hot for citizens in the country's aging population.

High temperatures reported Wednesday, July 22, 2015 for several cities in Japan.

Tatebayashi, in central Honshu's Gunma Prefecture, topped out at 100.8 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, said weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. It was the hottest location in Japan Wednesday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said three locations in northern Japan with weather data as far back as 1976 set all-time record highs Wednesday. Two were in Iwate Prefecture and one in Yamagata Prefecture, and all three reported highs between 97 and 99 degrees Fahrenheit. Weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen said average high temperatures in July are in the lower 80s in this region.
Last week was particularly hot in many locations. Takada topped out at 101.3 degrees, Tokyo reached 93.7 degrees, and temperatures in Kobe climbed to 96.8 degrees, Erdman said.
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The number of people hospitalized for heat-related illnesses doubled from the previous week, when Japan Today reported that 3,058 people were admitted to hospitals.
The Japanese government's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 10 of the 14 heat deaths last week were in the Greater Tokyo region. Six were in Saitama Prefecture, in the northern suburbs of Tokyo. That prefecture also leads the country in heat-related deaths and illnesses so far this spring and summer, with seven fatalities and 1,179 hospitalizations out of a population of just over 7 million.
The FDMA report said that 578 of those sent to hospitals last week were in Tokyo, and many of those sickened are at least 65 years old.
In all, 25 people have died and nearly 16,000 have been hospitalized due to heat-related causes this year in Japan. The FDMA said heat-related emergency transports to hospitals since mid-May are up by about 17 percent compared to last year.
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"Evaporation of moisture from wet soils thanks to heavy rainfall from Typhoon Nangka last week only added to the oppressiveness of the air mass for some in Japan," Erdman said.
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