After a summer in which several heat records were broken in the country, the local authorities are now investing in distributing free umbrellas to protect the city’s 9,000 school children, reports the Guardian.
The decision on the umbrellas, made of fiberglass and marked with the city’s logo, was made after the number of days when the temperature exceeds 35 degrees increased at an alarming rate.
Kumagaya is located on the lee side of a mountain range where warm winds regularly sweep in. In 2018, a temperature of 41.1 degrees was measured in the city, a Japanese heat record shared with Hamamatsu in the central parts of the country.