On September 2, the vibrant Shibuya Ward in Tokyo continues to thrive despite the extreme heat and humidity dominating the summer months. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), this summer exhibited an average temperature that was 1.76 degrees above the norm, marking it as one of the hottest summers on record since data collection began in 1898.

The JMA noted that the heat experienced during the months of June through August ties with the year 2023 for the hottest summer, reflecting a significant rise in temperatures over the past century. Among the various weather stations across Japan, the highest temperature recorded reached 41.1 degrees, first documented in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, in 2018, and then again in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2020.

This summer brought extremely high temperatures in various regions; for instance, Sano in Tochigi Prefecture recorded 41 degrees on July 29, while Kuwana in Mie Prefecture reached 40.4 degrees on August 9. Although average summer temperatures have seen fluctuations over the past century, the JMA has indicated a consistent long-term increase of 1.31 degrees. The national average temperature figures are derived from data collected at 15 monitoring stations that are minimally influenced by urban development, such as the one in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, using a baseline established from the years 1991 to 2020.