Photo/Illutration Shibuya Sky's rooftop observatory draws visitors despite the sweltering weather on Sept. 2 in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. (Wataru Sekita)

The long and miserable summer is technically over, but how people persevered through those three months of record heat is markedly different than when the Earth was cooler. 

Summer temperatures have grown increasingly brutal over the past 10 years. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that Tokyo saw an average of 8.3 days where temperatures sizzled past 35 degrees between 2014 and 2022. 

The JMA logged 22 days in 2023 and 19 days for this year as of the end of August.

Nationwide, temperatures averaged 1.76 degrees above the norm from June through August this year, tying with 2023 for the record of Japan's hottest summer since record-keeping began in 1898, according the JMA's announcement made on Sept. 2. 

The internal affairs ministry's Fire and Disaster Management Agency observed its own jump in heatstroke statistics. In 2014 (from June), the number of people sent to the hospital via an ambulance due to heatstroke was 40,048. 

In 2023, it was 91,467 and this year's preliminary figure, with the data capped on Aug. 25, was 83,238.

Outdoor sports have also changed.

"Koshien," the National High School Baseball Championship that is a beloved fixture of Japan's summertime culture, adopted a tiebreaker system for extra innings in 2018.

The tournament is held annually at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, and the updated system is to relieve the burden on pitchers and serve as a heat countermeasure.

The games were played in the morning and the evening to avoid the hottest parts of the day during the first three days of this year's tournament.

In terms of everyday school life, public elementary and junior high schools are increasingly choosing to install air conditioners.

The percentage of classrooms with air conditioning was merely 35.8 percent as of April 2014, but leapt to 95.7 percent as of September 2022. 

Changes like this are not limited to summer, however. The Environment Ministry and the JMA began issuing special heatstroke alerts in April, warning of "unprecedented heat in wide areas." 

True autumn weather also seems a ways off--the JMA forecasts high temperatures continuing after Sept. 6.

It urges people to remain cautious of their health as there is a high risk of heatstroke. Continued hot weather is expected across the country.

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