An “unprecedented” heatwave in Japan has killed at least 65 people in one week, government officials have said, with the weather agency classifying the record-breaking weather as a natural disaster.



The deaths in the week to Sunday were due to heatstroke, while another 22,647 people were admitted to hospital, the Japanese fire and disaster management agency said.

Both figures were the worst ever for any week during the summer since the agency began recording heatstroke deaths in July 2008, an agency spokesman said.

The agency said on Tuesday that 80 people had died from the heat since the beginning of the month, and more than 35,000 had been admitted to hospital.

A six-year-old boy who lost consciousness on his way back from a school field trip was among those who died.

“As a record heatwave continues to blanket the country, urgent measures are required to protect the lives of schoolchildren,” said Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary.

The government said it would supply funds to ensure all schools were equipped with air conditioners by next summer. Fewer than half of Japan’s schools have air conditioning, and the figure is only slightly higher at nurseries.

Suga said the government would consider extending this year’s summer school holidays as the heatwave drags on.

A macaque tries to keep cool on a block of ice containing fruits at Fukuoka zoo. Photograph: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

The city of Kumagaya set a national heat record on Monday, with temperatures hitting 41.1C (106F).

Temperatures over 40C were registered for the first time in Tokyo’s metro area, where the government is promoting uchimizu, a tradition where water is sprinkled on to the ground, as part of a summer heat awareness campaign.

“We are observing unprecedented levels of heat in some areas,” said Motoaki Takekawa, a weather agency official. The heatwave “is fatal, and we recognise it as a natural disaster”, he added.

Japan’s summers are notoriously hot and humid, and hundreds of people die each year from heatstroke, particularly the elderly.

The high temperatures follow record rainfall that caused floods and landslides in western and central Japan, killing more than 220 people.

The extreme weather has revived concerns about the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which will be held in July and August.