New All-Time Heat Records Set In 101 Locations Across Japan This Summer - Japan Times

This year's scorching summer sent temperatures at 101 observation points nationwide surging to record highs from late July to the end of August, with the mercury at two of them marking an all-time high of 40.9, according to the Meteorological Agency.

On Aug. 16, temperatures in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, and Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, hit the record high 40.9, surpassing the previous record of 40.8 recorded in Yamagata in 1933.

The 101 observation points, including these two as well as Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, Takahashi, Okayama Prefecture, and Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, account for about 12 percent of the 821 points nationwide where temperatures have been recorded over the past 10 years.

The agency's data for the period from June to August also showed that the temperature in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, hit 35.5, and the mercury on Okinawa's Yonaguni Island reached 35, both exceeding the 35 mark that indicates an "extremely hot day" for the first time ever.

EDIT

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070905a9.html

Caveat: I was a kid, so my memory is imperfect.

We did wear shorts in the summer, and went to the pool on base many times. But I don't remember being miserable in bed at night, and we didn't have AC that I recall.