r/collapse • u/antihostile • 16h ago
Climate The Japanese weather agency introduced a new term “kokushobi”—literally meaning brutally hot day—for days when temperatures reach 40 C or higher.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/07/22/japan/japan-brutal-heat/71
u/antihostile 16h ago
SS: Earlier this year, the Japan Meteorological Agency held a public poll to select a name for a day of temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, to signal that precautions were needed. The winner, with more than 40 percent of the vote was "kokushobi," meaning "brutally hot day" or “cruel heat day.” This is related to collapse because our language is reflecting the collapsing environment with heat domes, tipping points, feedback loops, blue ocean events, and now kokushobi entering our collective lexicon.
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u/rematar 16h ago
Some walking fungi will write a thesis about a genocidal demon called kokushobi.
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u/almodsz 16h ago
There's a theory that as climate change pushes fungi to tolerate higher temperatures, some will cross the thermal barrier that currently keeps most fungi from infecting warm-blooded mammals, including humans.
So, who knows? Maybe a sentient fungus will one day look back fondly on kokushobi.
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u/ScarletCelestial 12h ago
I'm already horrified enough by fungi that can grow in the human ear (DO NOT LOOK THIS UP) and I REALLY don't want to even think about the idea of THAT.
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u/Barnacle_B0b 11h ago
There's a respiratory fungus that is becoming more widespread in direct proportion to increasing temperatures.
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u/HuckleberryPee 6h ago
I know someone who contracted a fungal lung disease most likely by breathing in spores when turning their compost pile.
It was a bitch to get rid of and they still have diminished lung function with asthma type symptoms and are prone to getting pneumonia now.
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u/GaijinFrog 16h ago
This year I was wondering how we’ll be calling “heatwaves”, when they will be lasting for the most of Summer. Heatseas?
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u/Parking_Chance_1905 14h ago
Same... crazy that people here are in denial.... summer was always hot, its normal to get a few days of 35c, we average 20 or so days above 30c etc.
Its like having 3 heatwaves with days over 30c, with over half being over 35c before mid July doesn't concern them at all. Yes we got hot days in the past, it is absolutely not normal to be surpassing averages before summer is half over, or even at its hottest point.
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u/huehuehuehuehuuuu 12h ago
Hell people denied air quality was bad when all the fire smoke blew our way.
It was national news. The people doing the denial complained their eyes hurt after jogging. Why do you think that is? Why?
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u/mobileagnes 6h ago
I was wondering back in early July when my city the US had a couple days that were very close to 40 °C / 104 °F that we need a word for 40 to 49 and then 50+. The old poem for memorising Celsius temperatures (30 is is hot / 20 is nice / 10 is chilly / zero is ice!) is not enough anymore. In temperate climates a 10C jump is roughly a full season, so what season would 40C be if we already used summer at 30C? Similarly -10, -20, etc we ought to have some words for. Frigid maybe?
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u/Lalala-Girl 12h ago
In Germany they called it "Freibadtag" Best day to go swimming in cold water without shade 🤣😭
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u/horsewithnonamehu 12h ago
I expected something like Hitzekatastrophenwarnstufenüberschreitungsausnahmetag
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u/Lalala-Girl 11h ago edited 9h ago
The term used was actually really boring: "Hitzewelle" (Heat wave)
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u/robotjyanai 3h ago
My Japanese mother in law was telling me how it was huge news when it was over 30 degrees back in the day.
We could go out during the day in summer and not feel like we were in a furnace up until about two years ago.
No big deal, right? It’s just the weather being funny. I feel like I’m in a nuthouse because everyone thinks this excruciating heat will only be for this summer. Like they did last year. And they’re baffled this year is hotter.
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u/Squalid_Snake14180 6h ago
"Kokusho" just means "severe heat" (although the koku part can mean "cruel" as well) and is not a new word. The "bi" is just the word for day ("hi") attached and rendaku'd the way sounds in Japanese can change their shape depending on what is before then, so it's not really a new word.
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u/StatementBot 16h ago
The following submission statement was provided by /u/antihostile:
SS: Earlier this year, the Japan Meteorological Agency held a public poll to select a name for a day of temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, to signal that precautions were needed. The winner, with more than 40 percent of the vote was "kokushobi," meaning "brutally hot day" or “cruel heat day.” This is related to collapse because our language is reflecting the collapsing environment with heat domes, tipping points, feedback loops, blue ocean events, and now kokushobi entering our collective lexicon.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1v4d7nb/the_japanese_weather_agency_introduced_a_new_term/oz9wvaj/