Japanese Train Car Air Conditioning Is Giving Passengers a Fiery Temper in Tokyo After 8 Straight Days of Heatwave
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Boiling in the relentless heatwave, Japanese passengers are calling for the end of “weak AC” train cars.
Japan likes to boast of its four seasons, but with Tokyo enduring extreme heat for over a week with September in sight, it doesn’t seem like the summer will be coming to an end any time soon. Of course, the people of Tokyo still have to head to work and do all their daily errands, even in the surprisingly intense heat. And for many traveling by train, Japan’s “mildly air-conditioned car” cars feel illogical in such scorching conditions.
▶︎ Even repeat travelers in Japan may never have noticed, but there are two kinds of train cars in Japan. Normal cars usually have the air conditioning set to 26°C, while the “mildly air-conditioned cars” or “weak AC cars” set the temperature to 28°C. The two degrees may not seem like a big deal, but when you’re already melting from the heat on an open-air train platform, the difference in relief can be clearly noticeable.
Tokyo simply wasn’t designed with this overwhelming heat in mind, and the train car issue has many passengers hot under the collar. Twitter (X) user @ichitomo tweeted about the issue early on, clearly stating “on days when the temperature exceeds 40°C, I don’t think they should have weak AC cars.” The photo posted along with the post is a screen grab from the user’s phone as they tried to take a photo inside the train, displaying a warning that the machine was overheating, and the camera couldn’t be used. The post quickly went viral.
The next day, the same Twitter user posted a poll, asking “On days when temperatures climb above 40°C, is there still a need for weak AC cars?” The results showed over 70% of respondants voting that weak AC cars were “unnecessary,” and users in the comment section asked the question “why don’t they make extra strong AC cars for people who can’t stand the heat?”
Of course, while this push to abolish weak AC cars on extra hot days has clearly found supporters on Twitter, and a majority of people seem to agree, not everyone in Japan is in agreement. Some Twitter users voiced their frustrations in the comments:
“The AC on trains is too strong sometimes, so I sit in the weak AC car instead.”
“The difference between the temperature inside the train and outside makes me feel like I’ll catch a cold.”
“They should do something about the temperature gap inside and outside of the train.”
“Honestly, if you don’t like it, you should just sit in a car that’s not weak AC.”
In short, the debate over whether to abolish weak AC cars has become just as heated as Japan’s sweltering summer weather.
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