Tokyo to waive water fees this summer to combat extreme heat
TOKYO — Basic water utility fees will be waived for residents of Tokyo this summer in an effort to limit the impact of extreme heat, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced.
More than ¥36bn ($250m; £186m) has been set aside for the subsidies, which will come into effect for a four-month period.
"We would like to create an environment in which all Tokyoites can live in peace even in the extremely hot weather we are expected to experience this summer," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said.
Heatstroke claimed a record 263 lives in Tokyo last summer, according to the Bureau of Public Health. Many victims did not have air conditioning or chose not to use it because of high costs.
"Due to anxieties over living (costs), there may be cases in which people don't use their air conditioners during a heat wave even though they own one," Koike added.
By offsetting water costs, the government aims to encourage residents of the Japanese capital to use other cooling methods like air conditioning.In more than 60% of heatstroke deaths recorded indoors last summer, the victims had not turned air conditioning on, the Tokyo Fire Department said, according to the Japan Times.On average, base water fees in Tokyo cost between ¥860 ($6; £4.50) to ¥1,460 ($10; £7.50) per month, depending on the width of the household's water pipe.Additional fees — based on water usage and paid on top of base fees — will be charged at their usual rate.Tokyo has more than 7 million households and a population of more than 14 million, according to government statistics.Japan recorded its hottest summer on record last year.Temperatures in June, July and August were 1.76 degrees higher than the average between 1991 and 2020, according to the Japan meteorological agency.Between June and September, nearly 8,000 people in Tokyo were taken to hospitals for heatstroke — also a record — with a majority of deaths recorded among elderly people. — BBC
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
21-05-2025
- Saudi Gazette
Tokyo to waive water fees this summer to combat extreme heat
TOKYO — Basic water utility fees will be waived for residents of Tokyo this summer in an effort to limit the impact of extreme heat, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced. More than ¥36bn ($250m; £186m) has been set aside for the subsidies, which will come into effect for a four-month period. "We would like to create an environment in which all Tokyoites can live in peace even in the extremely hot weather we are expected to experience this summer," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said. Heatstroke claimed a record 263 lives in Tokyo last summer, according to the Bureau of Public Health. Many victims did not have air conditioning or chose not to use it because of high costs. "Due to anxieties over living (costs), there may be cases in which people don't use their air conditioners during a heat wave even though they own one," Koike added. By offsetting water costs, the government aims to encourage residents of the Japanese capital to use other cooling methods like air more than 60% of heatstroke deaths recorded indoors last summer, the victims had not turned air conditioning on, the Tokyo Fire Department said, according to the Japan average, base water fees in Tokyo cost between ¥860 ($6; £4.50) to ¥1,460 ($10; £7.50) per month, depending on the width of the household's water fees — based on water usage and paid on top of base fees — will be charged at their usual has more than 7 million households and a population of more than 14 million, according to government recorded its hottest summer on record last in June, July and August were 1.76 degrees higher than the average between 1991 and 2020, according to the Japan meteorological June and September, nearly 8,000 people in Tokyo were taken to hospitals for heatstroke — also a record — with a majority of deaths recorded among elderly people. — BBC
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-03-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Wildfires in Western Japan Damage Homes, Force Residents to Evacuate in at Least 2 Areas
Wildfires have hit several regions in western Japan, injuring at least two people, forcing dozens of residents to evacuate and damaging a number of homes as hundreds of firefighters battled the widening blazes in the mountainous areas. The fires in the western towns of Okayama, Imabari and Aso broke out Sunday, quickly burning hundreds of hectares (acres). Six homes have been damaged in the city of Okayama, where a fire started on Mount Kaigara and burned 250 hectares (600 acres) of the forest. In Imabari, in the Ehime prefecture on the main island of Shikoku, the fire left a firefighter slightly injured. Firefighters and defense helicopters sprayed water but the blazes in the two prefectures had not been extinguished as of Monday afternoon. Experts blamed dry weather and dried-up fallen leaves on the ground in the forest as likely causes of the wildfires in Okayama and Imabari. A smaller fire was detected in the mountainous village of Aso in the Kumamoto prefecture on the southern main island of Kyushu earlier Sunday, but it was extinguished early Monday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. One person was injured slightly. Local media said the fire started while residents were burning trash. The fires came just weeks after extensive wildfires in the northern Japanese city of Ofunato left one person dead and damaged more than 200 houses and other buildings as the blaze burned 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres), nearly one-tenth of the land in the city.
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-03-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Japan's Weather Agency Declares Flowering of Tokyo's Cherry Blossoms as the Festive Season Begins
Japan 's official cherry blossom spotters on Monday confirmed the first blooming of the country's favorite flower, declaring the official start of the festive season in the Japanese capital. An official from the Japan Meteorological Agency carefully examined the specimen tree of Somei Yoshino variety at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine and announced that more than five blossoms — the minimum required for the announcement — were flowering on it. The opening matched the average year and was five days earlier than last year, according to the JMA. Cherry blossoms, or 'sakura,' are Japan's favorite flower and usually reach their peak in late March to early April, just as the country celebrates the start of a new school and business year. Many Japanese enjoy walking or picnicking under the trees. Sakura have deeply influenced Japanese culture for centuries and have regularly been used in poetry and literature, with their fragility seen as a symbol of life, death and rebirth. The announcement in Tokyo, which is enjoying warmer-than-usual temperatures of around 19 Celsius (66 Fahrenheit), comes just one day after the blooming of the nation's first cherry blossom was confirmed Sunday in the southwestern city of Kochi on the island of Shikoku. The JMA tracks more than 50 'benchmark' cherry trees across the country. The trees normally bloom for about two weeks each year from first bud to all the blossoms falling off. They are expected to reach their peak in about 10 days. Cherry trees are sensitive to temperature changes and the timing of their blooming can provide valuable data for climate change studies. In recent years, Japan's cherry blossom season has tended to come earlier than the average, prompting concerns of a possible impact of climate change.
