Mercury Hits 40 Degrees in Central Japan for 4th Day in Row

Tokyo, July 24 (Jiji Press)–Temperatures in the Tokai central Japan region hit 40 degrees Celsius or higher for the fourth straight day on Friday, tying the longest such streak recorded in the country, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The mercury reached 40.8 degrees in the city of Kuwana in Mie Prefecture and 40.2 degrees in the city of Mino in Gifu Prefecture. It was the third time for a region in Japan to have four consecutive “kokushobi,” or brutally hot days, a term introduced in April for days when temperatures reach at least 40 degrees. Previously, four-day streaks were logged on Aug. 10-13, 2013 and July 30-Aug. 2 last year. The four kokushobi days in the 2013 streak were all recorded in the Ekawasaki district of the city of Shimanto in Kochi Prefecture, western Japan, the longest streak for a single observation point. During the latest four-day streak, Kuwana, Mino and the Gifu city of Tajimi each had three straight such days. On Friday, the mercury hit 39.9 degrees in Tajimi, the Hachiman district of the Gifu city of Gujo and the city of Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, neighboring Gifu. Nagoya, the Aichi capital, and Shimanto’s Ekawasaki logged 39.7 degrees. Among major cities, central Tokyo marked 35.4 degrees, Osaka in western Japan 38.2 degrees and Fukuoka in southwestern Japan 35.2 degrees. While the center of a high-pressure system that is responsible for the current extremely hot weather is forecast to move west on Saturday from an area southeast off the Kyushu southwestern region, eastern and western regions of the country are expected to continue seeing severe heat. For Saturday, heatstroke alerts have been issued for most prefectures in the Kanto eastern region and regions to the west. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]