Tokyo withering heat rises for second straight day

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that the temperatures in parts of Tokyo went above 35 degrees for the second straight day for the first time since 1975, when such records were first kept.

The mercury hit 36.4 degrees in Tokyo's Nerima Ward on June 26. It was one of three sites in the capital to experience withering heat above 35 degrees for two consecutive days.

On June 26th, the Tokyo Fire Department said 46 people had been taken by ambulance to hospitals with suspected symptoms of heatstroke.

A man in his 60 s and a woman in her 80 s were in serious condition, authorities said.

On June 25, a 94-year-old man in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, was taken to a hospital but died later, according to officials there. They said he fell ill in a room without air conditioning and developed a heatstroke.

On June 26, the central government issued an alert about tight supply-demand of power in the region served by Tokyo Electric Power Co. on June 27 and urged businesses and homes to cut their energy needs between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. that day.