Japan wants to create a new name for days above 40°C

Japan wants to create a new name for days above 40°C and has opened a public vote to decide how these periods of extreme heat should be officially called. The initiative came about because Japanese summers are becoming increasingly intense and often surpass the traditional limits used to classify heat.

Over the years, temperature records in Japan have been repeatedly broken. In addition to the high temperatures, the country faces very high humidity levels, which makes the heat feel even heavier. On many days, the combination of heat and humidity creates a suffocating feeling that makes everyday activities quite difficult.

Japan wants to create a new name for days above 40°C

The Japan Meteorological Agency decided to address this issue in a curious way: by creating a vote to choose a new term representing days when thermometers exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

Currently, the country already has official classifications for different levels of heat. When the temperature passes 25°C, the day is called natsubi, meaning “summer day.” When it exceeds 30°C, the term used is manatsubi, which can be translated as “midsummer day.”

When temperatures reach 35°C, the day is called moshobi, meaning “extremely hot day.” The problem is that due to climate change and rising temperatures, days above 40°C are becoming increasingly common, and there is still no official classification for this level of heat.

Because of this, the agency opened an online vote with 13 possible names to represent this new type of extremely hot day. Among the suggestions are terms that can be translated as blazing hot day, brutally hot day, intensely hot day, and even super extremely hot day.

Internet users also began suggesting curious and even humorous names for the new classification. Some people suggested something like “hell day,” while others joked that the most appropriate name would simply be “don’t go outside day.”

There were also people suggesting more exaggerated terms such as “heat death day” or even more dramatic versions to represent the absurd level of temperature some regions face during summer.

Among the official options, one of the names gaining the most support is chomoshobi, which can roughly be interpreted as something like “super extremely hot day.” Still, since the vote remains open, other unusual names may still appear.

via Soranews24