Japanese cities are experiencing “cruelly hot days,” a new meteorological term devised this year to warn people of intense heat above 40C, with emergency officials describing the soaring temperatures on Wednesday as “a disaster.”
Heatstroke alerts were issued across almost the whole country and emergency officials said at least 14 people had died from heat-related causes in the past week.
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Three central cities logged scorching temperatures on Tuesday above the new threshold, called “kokushobi” and which translates to “cruelly hot day,” according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
Large areas, including the central hub of Nagoya and communities near Tokyo in the east, were enduring temperatures approaching or above 40C on Wednesday.
