The temperature topped 30 in Tokyo on Thursday for a record 38th day in a row.
The Meteorological Agency said the temperature in Tokyo topped 30 shortly before 10 a.m. The previous record was set in 1995. The agency has been taking measurements at the Otemachi observation point in central Tokyo since 1923.
On July 21, the mercury in Tokyo hit a record 39.5.
A record 628 people, of whom 418 were men, were taken to the hospital for heatstroke in Tokyo in July. Last year, when Japan had a relatively cool summer, the number was 14, the Tokyo Fire Department said.
The weather agency attributed this year's heat wave partly to the effects of a powerful high atmospheric pressure ridge over the Pacific.
