After a sultry summer, Japan's students and teachers have returned to school, but some will suffer during September's remaining hot days more than others. Government data shows air conditioning is becoming standard in most Japanese public schools, but a handful of cities and prefectures are resisting the trend for questionable reasons.
Every three years the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) conducts a survey into the number of school classrooms with air conditioners. MEXT released results from its most recent survey on June 9.
The 2017 survey shows that 41.7 percent of all public elementary and junior high schoolrooms now have air conditioning, a 12 percent rise from three years ago. This figure includes classrooms as well as computer and science labs and other rooms for special purposes. Look only at regular classrooms and the percentage rises to 49.6 percent. This year 17 prefectures had over 50 percent of classrooms air-conditioned, compared to only six prefectures in 2014. Older students receive even more help coping with the heat: 74.1 percent of public high school classrooms have air conditioners.