Yesterday was Japan's hottest day...ever

No question about it, it's been hot lately, but Kashiwara in Hyogo Prefecture received a dubious honor yesterday. The mercury there reached 41.2 degrees Celsius, which is the hottest temperature recorded in Japan ever. 

That doesn't sound all that high compared to my home country, which has cracked the 50 degrees Celsius mark before (50.7c in two places, to be precise), but here it's the humidity that is the real killer. Vast swathes of my home country are desert, so the dry heat is to be expected in a sense.

Sad to say, but I don't think this will be the last of the record breaking temperatures, either. I think we're going to see it year upon year.

All that to say, please keep cool, use A/C, hydrate, and do all the good things to stay well under these conditions.