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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
How the world’s most elderly country is fighting heat in a deadly
double crisis
By Jessie Yeung, Hanako Montgomery and Yumi Asada, CNN
Updated:
8:00 AM EDT, Fri September 19, 2025
Source: CNN
Whenever he’s home, 84-year-old Toshiaki Morioka carries an alarm
device that measures temperature and humidity, which can summon
emergency responders at the press of a button. He takes it to bed, to
the kitchen, even to the bath.
That’s because he knows he could easily fall victim to heatstroke –
which kills hundreds of elderly Japanese each year, and which has
impacted tens of thousands this summer amid record-breaking
temperatures.
The alarm device is part of a government push to combat a deadly double
emergency: the collision of Japan’s climate crisis and its aging
population.
While elderly people everywhere are especially vulnerable to the
effects of extreme heat, Japan’s problem is exacerbated by isolation
and other cultural factors.
Like millions of other Japanese elders, Morioka lives alone and worries
no one would know if he suddenly became ill. Heatstroke can come with
little warning for older people.
“Just day-to-day living is tough,” he said. “When you get sick
– if you’re alone, there’s nothing you can do.”
Japan isn’t the only country facing this predicament. and also just
had their hottest summers on record, while much of Europe faced its ,
with human-caused climate change driving higher temperatures and more
extreme, unpredictable weather.
Many of these places are seeing . But Japan is widely considered the
world’s oldest and fastest-aging society – meaning other countries
will be watching closely for potential solutions as it races to protect
its elderly residents on the front lines of rising heat.
Deadly heat
This past summer has been Japan’s hottest on record, according to the
official In August, Japan recorded its at 41.8 degrees Celsius (107.24
Fahrenheit).
The heat this year lasted for long, suffocating stretches. High
temperatures began in June and lasted into September, long past the
usual end of summer. In late August, central Tokyo sweltered through
nine consecutive days of temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95
Fahrenheit) – the longest heat streak on record, according to the
meteorological agency.
Through the unrelenting summer, Japan’s hospitals have received waves
of elderly patients, including some who collapsed at home, or on the
street under the scorching sun.
Climate change, largely caused by the burning of planet-heating fossil
fuels, is making heat waves more common, intense and long-lasting. And
as global average temperatures continue to climb, severe heat – as
seen in Japan this summer – could be the new normal.
Hundreds of seniors already die of heatstroke every year in the
country. Between May and August, 90,000 people nationwide were taken to
the hospital for heatstroke – some of whom needed to be hospitalized
for weeks on end, according to Japan’s
The elderly “often don’t feel the heat as much, have more
difficulty regulating body temperature, and don’t notice thirst as
easily,” said Takashi Shimazaki, section manager of the health
department in Tokyo’s Nerima ward. “Because of that, there’s a
high chance they may develop heatstroke without even realizing it.”
Humans sweat to cool themselves down through the process of
evaporation. But “this mechanism actually becomes weaker for older
people,” making it harder for the elderly to cool down, said Qiang
Guo, an assistant professor at the University of Tsukuba who leads a
lab group researching climate change solutions.
In Japan, the problem is heightened by specific cultural and
demographic factors. For instance, said Guo, the falling birth rate
means Japan has a shrinking workforce, with fewer young people
available to fill the gaps left by aging workers – who in turn are
forced to keep toiling instead of retiring.
“More than 70% of farmers in Japan are (aged) greater than 65, and
these older people are vulnerable to heat stress,” he said. “So,
when heat stress or a heat wave comes, it’s not only a public health
issue … but also it is an economic issue.”
Another factor that may baffle outsiders is a reluctance to use air
conditioners at home.
Out of the 101 suspected heatstroke deaths in Tokyo this summer, 66
happened in rooms with air conditioners (ACs) that weren’t being
used,
It’s a long-standing problem that stems from both tradition and
necessity.
“There was a time when summers weren’t as hot as now, so many
(elderly) got used to living without air conditioning,” said
Shimazaki. “Those people may try to get by with just a fan even
during extreme heat.”
Others may avoid using ACs because they believe it’s not
environmentally friendly, or because they can’t afford to pay high
electricity bills – especially if they’re living alone without
income, relying on welfare and government support.
That’s why Morioka, the 84-year-old in Tokyo, uses his AC sparingly.
His kids call to check on him and ask whether he’s using air
conditioning, he said – to which he responds, “Well, I want to, but
it costs money.”
But he’s still wary of getting heat stroke, “so at night I set the
AC with a timer. When the timer ends it shuts off, but then I wake up
in the middle of the night because it’s hot. Then I turn it on
again,” he said. “It’s that cycle, really.”
Widespread isolation
One of the biggest risk factors, however, is isolation.
Loneliness has been a national concern for years, extending across age
brackets – even prompting the government to appoint a Minister of
Loneliness and Isolation in 2021.
But the problem is especially acute for seniors, left vulnerable in
their sunset years without support networks.
As of 2020, more than 13% of Japanese households were people aged 65
or above who lived alone, according to the National Institute of
Population and Social Security Research. That number is expected to
keep rising – making up one fifth of all households by 2050, the
institute predicted last year.
Many of these elderly live alone in small towns and in the countryside,
after their children flocked to urban centers like Tokyo, said Guo.
The consequences of elderly isolation have become clear in several
recent grim phenomena – such as the rise of “lonely deaths,”
where people go undiscovered for weeks, or longer, after dying. Of
76,000 deaths last year of people who lived alone and died at home,
more than 70% were aged 65 or older, , citing police figures.
Some seniors resort to desperate means, such as stealing food, to
survive. Others find they , preferring regular meals, free healthcare,
eldercare and companionship behind bars that they lack on the outside.
When it comes to heat, this isolation can be equally devastating.
Seniors may not have anyone to call upon if they start feeling ill –
and there’s nobody around to notice the symptoms for those who
don’t realize they’re suffering from heatstroke until it’s too
late.
Potential solutions
The clock is ticking for Japan to find solutions, with the impact from
its demographic crisis expected to last decades – and Asia warming
nearly twice as quickly as the rest of the world, according to the
World Meteorological Organization.
“I think that China and also South Korea will look at what measures
have been taken in Japan … and the effects, and whether they should
learn something,” said Guo.
Japan’s initiatives range from the practical to the innovative. For
instance, various cities including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya have offered
subsidies for the elderly to buy AC units. They’ve also introduced
“cooling spots” – air-conditioned indoor public spaces designed
to help people rest and hydrate.
There are 270 such cooling spots in Tokyo’s Nerima ward alone, said
Shimazaki. These include both government facilities and local private
businesses that offer cool spaces in shops, pharmacies, community
centers, libraries, cafes and more.
Nerima has also installed an emergency alert system – which is what
Morioka uses in his home. These emergency alert devices, about the size
of a large electronic tablet, play a warning message when there is a
high risk of heatstroke, and allows users to make calls for help, said
Shimazaki.
There are other technological solutions being trialed, such as a
heatstroke prevention wristwatch that detects rises in body
temperature, which the Tokyo government is helping develop and
distribute.
But much of the government’s efforts focus on filling the biggest gap
in elderly lives: human company and attentiveness.
Many local authorities have launched community programs, enlisting
volunteers to go door-to-door and check in on the elderly.
Besides gauging their health and well-being, these volunteers offer
information such as advice on how to stay cool – part of a wider
awareness campaign that includes distributing pamphlets in public
spaces and holding free talks on the topic.
For Morioka, these home visits are a valued resource after his wife
died three years ago. He makes sure to drink water and wear a hat when
he goes outside during the summer – his way of honoring an old vow.
“It was a promise with my wife – to live until 99 (years old),”
he said, tearing up as he spoke to CNN inside his home. “We had said
we’d live a long life together, but we couldn’t.”
“With the heat, I go about life sweating like this, but … living
alone really is tough,” he said.
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