Tokyo skyline.
Photo: Everett Kennedy Brown/ dpa
Japan is groaning under a heat wave.
In the city of Isezaki, 85 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, the highest temperature ever recorded in Japan in June was measured at more than 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
As of Sunday afternoon, 46 people suspected of suffering from heat stroke had been taken to a hospital in Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK reports.
In Kawagoe, 20 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, a 94-year-old man died of complications from heat stroke after being found unconscious in his non-air-conditioned room on Saturday.
In view of the air conditioning systems running around the clock in many places, the Japanese government is now warning of a power shortage and is calling on citizens to save energy.
Especially in the Tokyo region, power consumption must be restricted on Mondays between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to avoid blackouts.
Set air conditioners to 28 degrees
In Tokyo and eight nearby prefectures in the east of the country, excess power generation capacity will drop to as much as 3.7 percent at times Monday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
A buffer of three percent is the minimum requirement for a stable energy supply.
"Please conserve as much electricity as possible by turning off lights that are not in use," it said in a statement.
However, the ministry also called for avoiding heat stroke through the correct use of air conditioning and setting it to 28 degrees.
Japan has been suffering from extreme summer heat for years.
Experts have been warning for years that Japan's big cities could soon become too hot to live.
The culprits are the masses of concrete, steel and asphalt, the loss of green and water areas and the car exhaust fumes.
Japan's power supply is already strained, as many nuclear power plants are still shut down after the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster.
A number of outdated thermal power plants are being closed in order to achieve the climate targets.
Also, the country faces a potential shortage of fossil fuels, including LNG, due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
vet/reuters