Why This Topic Landed in Japan

To a Japanese internet that views brutal summers as practically a domestic specialty, the sight of Europeans dying in a heatwave without air conditioning prompted both surprise and a sense of superiority. Europe's particular circumstances — heritage rules that ban outdoor AC units for the sake of cityscapes, and a reluctance to embrace air conditioning on environmental grounds — became prime material for a debate among Japanese users who prize practicality.

Key Reaction Themes

  • "Why don't they just get AC?" — Reactions ranged from a blunt "just install it" to explanations of the institutional barriers: heritage rules, environmental attitudes, and installation costs.
  • Pride in Japan's infrastructure and climate control — Comments boasting that Japan is "so comfortable," with "AC in every room."
  • Spillover into energy policy — Tying the reactor shutdowns and the EV shift to the fragility of Europe's energy supply.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Over 200 heat-related deaths in Spain

The severity of Europe's heat toll and astonishment at the low uptake of air conditioning.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Are they weak to heat?"
  • "It's terrifying that the infrastructure can't keep up with the heatwave. Cooling isn't widespread, and there isn't even the power to run that much cooling. On top of that, the heat means power plants can't cool their condensers, so output is throttled lol."
  • "Just put in air conditioning."
  • "Why don't they install AC? Environmental ordinances or something?"
  • "Installation costs are higher than in Japan too, and in apartment buildings there are fights over who pays."
  • "Japan is way too comfortable lol — every room has AC lol."
  • "I hear Europeans, unlike Japanese, die easily from a little climate change, but even so, isn't this too many deaths?"
  • "There's probably demand for portable AC — the kind with a duct out the window."
  • "The Mediterranean is going to dry up."

France at 44°C: drownings and reactor shutdowns

Drownings amid the heat, and reactors curtailed as river water warmed.

Sources: Yomiuri, MIT Technology Review, 2ch

Comments:

  • "France can't install air conditioning, right?"
  • "Outdoor units ruin the cityscape, so they're banned."
  • "What a ridiculous sense of aesthetics."
  • "That's worse than Japan — why are there no AC units?"
  • "Living without AC hardly seems like a developed country."
  • "Until now there was no need for it — conversely, European houses have rock-solid heating."
  • "Let's cool it with the electricity we generate."
  • "Sea water is one thing, but cooling with river water is a stretch."
  • "France has laws regulating AC installation for the sake of building aesthetics, so even at temperatures like this many places can only use ceiling fans."
  • "No matter how much EV performance improves, if reactors are useless over something like this, it's no time to be expanding EVs."