8/14 - Japan Sets 21 New All-Time High Temperature Records In Heat Wave - AFP

Japan sweltered under a heat wave Tuesday, sending temperatures to record highs at 21 places and leaving at least one person dead, officials said.

An 80-year-old woman was found dead in the lavatory of her apartment in Saitama, north of Tokyo, apparently due to heat stroke, local medical authorities said.

In Sakai, a city by the Sea of Japan (East Sea) some 600 kilometres (375 miles) west of Tokyo, the mercury soared to 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.58 F), one of 21 local records, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The highest temperature in the nation Tuesday was 38.6 C (101.48 F) in nearby Yonago, although it was a notch below the town's record high, the agency said.

Japan has a mostly temperate climate with strong seasonal variations. The country's all-time heat record was 40.8 C (105.44) registered in July 1933 in landlocked Yamagata, some 300 kilometres (190 miles) north of Tokyo.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/070814123158.jwtsncal.html