NHK and commercial TV announcers gathered at Tokyo's Hachiko statue on Monday to call for an end to excessively hot summers.
The event is part of a broader effort to raise awareness about climate change and the urgent need to mitigate rising global temperatures. By mobilizing high-profile media personalities, the campaign aims to translate abstract climate data into a public demand for systemic change.
The gathering is the centerpiece of the “暑すぎる夏を終わらせるWEEK” (Week to End the Too-Hot Summer) campaign, which runs from Aug. 1 to Aug. 9, 2026 [1]. During the event, announcers including TV Asahi’s Sasaki Kai said the public should raise their voices against the warming trend.
To visualize the crisis, organizers installed a numeric board at the Hachiko statue in Shibuya that displays real-time temperature data [2]. The initiative aligns with a UN-linked campaign to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels [3].
“Because warming is progressing steadily, we must make our voices louder,” Sasaki said [4].
The campaign comes amid growing public health concerns regarding extreme heat in Japan. In 2025, the number of emergency transports due to heatstroke exceeded 100,000 [5]. This trend has intensified the push for more aggressive climate policies to protect vulnerable populations during the summer months.
Participants at the Shibuya event said the current weather patterns are not merely seasonal fluctuations but signs of a deepening environmental crisis. The announcers called for collective action to ensure that future summers do not continue to break heat records.
““Because warming is progressing steadily, we must make our voices louder,””
This collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters represents a rare unified front in Japanese media to address climate change. By utilizing a landmark like the Hachiko statue and focusing on the tangible danger of heatstroke, the campaign seeks to move the climate conversation from scientific circles into the daily consciousness of the urban public.
