THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
December 16, 2023 at 18:39 JST
Family members play at a beach in Miyazaki city on Dec. 15. (Manabu Hiratsuka)
Much of Japan basked in summer temperatures despite the calendar showing there are only 10 days to go before Christmas.
As of 3:10 p.m., 21 observation points around the nation had clocked record high temperatures for December, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Dec. 16.
Unusually warm weather has persisted following the hottest summer in Japan on record.
The mercury reached a high of 26.2 degrees in Yokoshibahikari, Chiba Prefecture; 26 degrees in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture; and 25.5 degrees in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture.
Record temperatures were also observed Dec. 15 at 57 locations around Japan, including 25.6 degrees in Miyazaki city on the main southern island of Kyushu. The last time the day’s high there exceeded 25 degrees in December was 133 years ago.
Even Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan in central Japan had a high of 26 degrees.
The forecast high for Dec. 17 is a sharp drop to 15 degrees in Tokyo.
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