Japanese weather officials are warning of heatstroke as they forecast extremely hot weather on Sunday.
The Meteorological Agency says temperatures on Saturday soared to 37.8 degrees Celsius in Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture, 37.2 degrees in Kyoto City and 35.2 degrees in Saitama City north of Tokyo.
The agency expects temperatures to approach 40 degrees in inland areas of the Kanto and Tokai regions.
A daytime high of 39 degrees is forecast for Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture and Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture; 38 degrees for the cities of Nagoya, Shizuoka, Kofu and Saitama, and 37 degrees for the cities of Miyazaki, Tsu and Gifu.
Central Tokyo and the cities of Kagoshima, Kyoto and Yokohama are expected to have daytime highs of 36 degrees.
Fukuoka, Osaka and Fukushima are expected to reach 35 degrees.
The Meteorological Agency and the Environment Ministry have issued heatstroke alerts for Metropolitan Tokyo, except for Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands, and 25 other prefectures from Kanto to Okinawa as high temperatures and humidity levels will likely raise the risk of heatstroke.
The 25 prefectures are: Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Ibaraki, Gunma, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Fukui, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama, Hiroshima, Shimane, Tottori, Ehime, Kochi, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Oita, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa except for the Daitojima region.
People are being advised to use air conditioners appropriately, stay hydrated even when not thirsty, and avoid unnecessary outings and exercise.
Elderly people and children need special attention as they are at higher risks of developing heatstroke.
Heatstroke is likely to have been the cause of death among some elderly people who were found dead while farming yesterday.