How hot is it this year?

The newspapers are reporting that over 30,000 people have been taken to hospitals this summer for heatstroke. Of course, that's certainly not true. But I guess over 30,000 people have been taken to hospitals for heat exhaustion or worse (There are half a dozen different kinds of heat illness -- heat stroke is the most serious).

When I came to live in Japan, there was still a belief that it was bad to drink liquids during exercise in hot weather. In particular, student athletes were warned of the dangers of drinking during hot weather exercise. That belief has faded. But there's still a strong prejudice against being comfortable, especially if that involves the use of electricity. Not only air conditioning -- I've had several people tell me they think it's dangerous to sleep with a fan on your body. For me, this summer, the choice is to sleep with the air conditioner on or not sleep at all.