It's too freaking hot

[Frungy]

What's with this weather? It's hitting 40 degrees (100+ to us Americans), and someone tells me it's the hottest it's ever been in the history of July. Is August supposed to get even HOTTER?

[kurogane]

Where is it 40?????????

Here in Kyoto / Osaka it is a cool 34 degrees.

But seriously, could someone please turn off the F7in HEAT?????????????????

And yes, August gets stinkier. Eat lots of Kakigori (Snow cones)

[Bill]

Hotter Than July.....
My advice to avoid the trots in the morning is to start the day with something warm to drink....dont hit the cold stuff until later....give ur stomach a chance.....looking at the heat in a postive light....beer tastes so much better!!!!!! now all u have to worry about is heat rash in ur dark and sweaty areas and of course athletes foot..... and spare a thougt for the office ladies who have to wear stockings in this heat!!!!!

[Frungy]

It hit 40 in Chiba. In Tokyo, it "only" went up to 39. Man, I'm going to Enoshima tomorrow, I don't care how filthy the freaking water is.

[CM]

Could be worse, you could be watching your entire life float away in Niigata.
I have to say it is hot in Tokyo and apparently it hit 43 in Saitama the week before last which is beyond the ridiculous.

What really pisses me off is I get on a train and the AC is so extreme that it can't possibly be more than 10 degrees on there and then you step into the station where its over 30 and then have to jump on another train. I end up feeling ill.

[kurogane]

Bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where were you with that sage advice as I dug into my ever so chilled can of Cafe Latte this morning?????????????? I spent the next half hour on the can. Yuk!

Good advice, though :)

CM,
U R right about the temperature extremes. I feel dizzy, and half cooked by the time I get to work. Sabotage is the only answer. Carry masses of wet oshibori onto the train, and stuff all the vents. That'll show 'em.

[CLOWNPUNCHER]

Yeah it was around 40c here in south Ibaraki today the hottest it's ever been in my 14 years here.

[Bill]

CM
I think some of the trains have full blast, medium/weak and no AC carraiges in them.....look at the ground at the edge of the platform that is where the signs are ....also on the sides of the carraiges too......... u might be luck and find a train with these options on ur trek into work...otherwise leave home early and stay late in the office to avoid the extremes.

[Frungy]

There are low blast AC train cars, but it usually doesn't help because the doors between the trains are always open, so the frosty air circulates in.

Otherwise, on the insanely crowded trains (I hate you Den En Toshi), the air conditioning doesn't help at all. Fortunately most Japanese don't have much body odor.

[kurogane]

Except for that mild pickle smell. Better than a bunch of meat eating dairy freaks, though.

[Code Rot]

Kurogane is right -- Japanese do have a distinctive smell. You notice it most when you go away out of Japan for a while, come back, and get on the train at the airport. It's the Nihonjin smell! And it is totally distinct from the Hong Kong/Chinese smell, or the fruity/spicy Indian smell, and the musky African smell. Apparently, Asian people think white people smell like milk, because we drink so much of the sh-t.

Frungy -- I will agree that this summer has been obnoxiously hot, and some record temperatures have been reached. It seems like every year the world is getting hotter. Last summer I went to Europe, and it was the hottest there it had been in 30 years. Maybe it shows that Global Warming is really happening. So, if you want to survive, better get used to heat. It's only going to get hotter, as the years go by!

[Frungy]

Global warming isn't about heat, it's about extremeties. Storms or droughts are more severe, winters are colder. Boston had two ridiculously cold winters these past two years. Something to do with the polar caps melting, thereby slowing down the gulf stream because of excess cool water.

Oh well. I was thinking of moving to Iceland too... in a few years it probably will live up to its name.

[kurogane]

Kurogane is also very hot. Kurogane has sweat pimples in unmentionable locations. Kurogane is NOT a happy samurai.

Frungy,
When you get there, Please send ICE.

[Code Rot]

Actually, I went to Iceland last year, and all the locals were sweltering, because the thermometer was hitting 10 degrees C, and people were stripping off their shirts to bask in the sunshine. While I was there I met a number of Germans who were escaping the heatwave on the continent (the European summer in 2003 was one of the hottest in European history, and thousands of people died from heat exhaustion). They all said that Europe was screwed -- and their only hope was to escape to Iceland when the temperatures started rising too high. So, I reckon it could be a good idea to invest in Icelandic real estate. But where will Japanese go when the sea levels start to rise? One day soon, Tokyo wil be under the ocean.

[Code Rot]

Well, for Frungy-san, perhaps relief is soon at hand.
I have heard that just as summer started early this year, it will end early as well.
Sunday (August 15)'s refreshingly cool temperatures was just an outlier of the autumn which will soon be upon us.
Soon you will be complaining about how fricking cold and dry it is here in the winter!

[kurogane]

Of course we will complain about the vagaries of The Four Seasons. . When in Rome..................
;)

[Frungy]

I like the cold. You can always put more clothes on. Heat sucks, you have to tough it out.

[Code Rot]

You can always strip down when it is hot, and bare yourself to the elements.

[kurogane]

Oh Christ, don' start down that road. Look at all the problems markosonline is having with his neighbour, who tends to do just what you advise
;)

[Song2]

Bloody cold today though, wasn't it...quick trip down to Uni-Qlo for a fleece or two, methinks!
Brrrrrrrrrrr!

[pirogue]

We got though it entirely without A/C.

[Frungy]

So it hit 25 degrees yesterday, a record high for the month of December in Tokyo. It was wooooooonderful... why can't we have more days like that.

Supposedly there were 140 kph winds too, but I didn't feel anything.