TOKYO – Cold-ramen eateries and kakigori, or shaved ice, stalls are doing brisk business, while cooling mist sprays are on full blast in public areas as Japan battles its hottest July on record.

Handheld portable fans and parasols are also in vogue as residents try to beat what Japan’s weather agency has described as “disaster-level heat”.

Heatstroke warnings urging people to avoid unnecessary outings were in place across 38 out of Japan’s 47 prefectures for most of Saturday as temperatures soared above 35 deg C in much of the country, including areas such as Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukuoka.

Even Hokkaido, known for its cooler summers, is not spared the heat. The mercury peaked at 34.4 deg C in Sapporo, while the highest temperature on Japan’s northernmost island was 36.2 deg C in the town of Ashoro.

Saturday was the 11th day that Tokyo has braved temperatures above 35 deg C so far in July, rewriting the previous record of seven days in July 2001.

And Japan’s highest temperature for July was broken when the thermometer read 39.8 deg C in Osaka’s Hirakata city. 

The heat island effect – experienced in urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka with their abundance of non-reflective, heat-absorbing materials used in structures like glass buildings and asphalt roads – also means that the so-called “feels like” temperature is far higher.

And the hot weather is expected to persist for a few months more.

On July 25, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a three-month forecast that said the intense higher-than-average summer heat is likely to continue until October, while more violent typhoons due to rising ocean temperatures may also occur.

In a viral tweet showing that daily highs will stay at 35 deg C or more in Tokyo for at least a week longer, meteorologist Makoto Kawazu said: “I have never been left speechless by a weather forecast before.”

The heat has been dangerous.

Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) data showed that 9,190 people were taken to hospital nationwide for heatstroke symptoms between July 17 and 23 – more than double the 4,078 people over the same period in 2022.

Among them was Japan’s Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, 79, who was taken to hospital on July 21 after he showed symptoms of heatstroke while at home in Tokyo.

The heat can also be lethal.

On Friday, a 13-year-old junior high school student suddenly collapsed while cycling home from school in Yamagata prefecture. 

She died on Saturday, according to media reports.

A woman in her 90s in Tottori prefecture and a woman in her 60s in Saga prefecture have also died after collapsing on farmland.

In Hyogo prefecture, a 57-year-old male construction worker likewise succumbed to heatstroke.

In 2022, 1,387 people died of heatstroke, Health Ministry data shows.

Symptoms of heatstroke include lethargy, headaches, dizziness and cramping, with seizures and a loss of consciousness occurring in extreme cases.

Heatstroke can also occur while swimming. On July 7, six fourth-grade students in Chiba – east of Tokyo – were taken to hospital for suspected heatstroke.

A Japan Sports Agency official told The Mainichi newspaper: “It’s harder to realise you’re thirsty while in the pool... We advise hydrating proactively and getting out of the pool to rest in the shade.”

Although a power-saving period is in effect in Tokyo until August due to an expected tight electricity supply, the FDMA is urging people to prioritise keeping cool by sleeping with their air-conditioning on, and to hydrate even before feeling thirsty.

The situation is so concerning that PayPay, one of Japan’s leading e-payment services, has launched a heatstroke insurance scheme that starts from 100 yen (95 Singapore cents) a day, and covers up to 10,000 yen for drip treatments and 30,000 yen for hospital stays.

Still, many were determined not to let the brutal heat ruin their summer. Tokyoites are cooling off at popular places such as the beaches of Kamakura or Zushi, south of the capital, and the resort town of Karuizawa in Nagano, north-west of it.

Meanwhile, beer gardens and night pool events have popped up across the country.

Unagi, or eel, is a summer favourite.

The Manyoshu – Japan’s oldest extant poetry collection, dating to the Nara period (710-794) – mentions that the fish is traditionally eaten during the season.

While the modern-day boom can be traced back to a marketing campaign, the Japanese believe it is a nutritional dish that can increase stamina and heat tolerance.

Ms Nagisa Nishida, 41, was with her nine-year-old son Yuma at an unagi restaurant in Narita, a city east of Tokyo famous for its eel eateries.

She told The Mainichi newspaper: “The eels were fluffy. I hope they will give me stamina.”

Annual summer festivals are also in full swing – many for the first time in years after the Covid-19 hiatus.

As temperatures dropped at sunset, over 1.3 million people went to the Asakusa district for the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, one of Japan’s largest pyrotechnic shows, on Saturday night.