TOKYO: Pupils are languishing in Japan’s aging school buildings as poor insulation cancels out air conditioning, leading to sleepy children and cranky teachers.
But it also means higher electricity bills and more carbon emissions in a country that activists say is lagging behind in building energy efficiency.
“Even though they can have PE class outside, they have to go back to the classroom where it’s so hot… Poor kids,” the 29-year-old told AFP.
Japan just recorded its hottest July since records began 126 years ago, and the heat has killed 59 people since April, according to the disaster management agency.
Last year, the country recorded its warmest September on record, just after students returned to classes after the summer holidays.
Japan has seen temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in recent days, with a record 12,666 heatstroke patients taken to hospital last week, according to NHK television.
“In recent years, summer is coming much earlier, much earlier than the kids go on vacation (in mid-July),” Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Kazue Suzuki said.
Tokyo’s Katsushika ward, which has 73 elementary and middle schools, has so far renovated several classrooms at two schools, added additional ceiling and wall insulation, and installed heat exchangers to cool classrooms.
In these classrooms, air conditioning will now reduce the temperature from 32°C to 27°C in 45 minutes, compared to 100 minutes earlier, and use less than half the energy, the department says.
More than 60 percent of students said they could concentrate better after the renovations, he adds.
“We also doubled the windows,” said Takatoshi Kimura, the Katsushika official in charge of renovating the facility.
Kimura said it’s part of the department’s pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
But Greenpeace’s Suzuki said Japan remains far behind global standards for building energy efficiency.
Takahashi, a teacher at the school, says the warmer temperatures have made what were once normal parts of a student’s day less routine.
