Cities designate facilities where residents can beat the heat

The Asahi Shimbun

City officials have been encouraging people to use the shelters. Their publicity efforts include the use of signs and the Line messaging app.

On July 12 one resident took refuge on a bench inside Gamagori’s city hall.

"The temperature is appropriately cool. It's better to be here than at home alone," said Akemi Ota, 86.

The number of people seeking treatment for heatstroke has been rising. In fiscal 2018, 7,138 people in Osaka Prefecture were carried to hospitals with apparent heat stroke, nearly double the figure from a year earlier.

The Osaka prefectural government inaugurated cooling shelters in fiscal 2020. This fiscal year about 360 places are available in pharmacies, mobile phone shops, and other locations.

Prefectural officials are urging other operators to join the project, which runs until September.

While momentum has been building nationwide, COVID-19 tripped up some operators. The Tottori city government suspended its cooling centers due to the pandemic. It reopened this summer.

(This story was written by Ryuichiro Fukuoka, Noboru Tomura, and Akihiro Tanaka.)