Last summer went on record as Japan's hottest ever, as the daytime mercury seemed stubbornly stuck in the 33 to 36 degrees Celsius range while at nighttime it usually refused to budge to below the 25 C mark.
Now we have summer 2011 to look forward to. The temperatures will probably not be as extreme, but even so for residents of Kanto and other areas affected by the March 11 disaster, it could well go down as the most brutally uncomfortable summer on record.
The reason, obviously, is the continuing cutbacks on the use of electricity, the energy source that powers our air conditioners and refrigerators. But that's not all. As any Tokyo resident will tell you, the depleted power supply has led to the idling of other public conveniences, such as escalators and elevators.
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