A heat wave continued to bake areas in Japan west of the region centering around Tokyo on Saturday, but Hokkaido was unseasonably cool, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture recorded an all-time high of 39.3 C, which was 8.5 C above normal. Other places with high temperatures included the cities of Okayama and Gifu at 38 C, Nagoya at 37.9 C, Osaka at 37.8 C, Takamatsu at 37.7 C and Kumamoto and Kyoto at 37.3 C.
The agency said Okayama, Takamatsu and Kumamoto saw their highest temperatures so far this summer.
By contrast, a cold front over the Sea of Okhotsk made for a cool day in some parts of Hokkaido. In Nemuro, the high was 13.8 C, which is 7.5 C below normal, it said, adding that other areas in the prefecture where temperatures were under 20 C included the city of Abashiri at 15.4 C and the town of Omu at 16.7 C.