Located in the norther-eastern part of Asia, Japan is a cool country with pleasant summers and long, snowy, and, often, freezing winters. However, in recent years, the weather of Japan has become a lot warmer, consistent with the rest of the world, as a result of air-pollution-induced global warming and climate change. As per the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the country has recorded a 1-degree rise in its annual temperature in the last century. This is being seen in the rising number of hot days (wherein the maximum temperature is higher than 35 °C) and reducing extremity of cold days.
P&S Intelligence credits this factor as being vital in the growth of the Japanese heat stress monitor market revenue to $3.96 million in 2030 from $1.98 million in 2020, at a 7.05% CAGR during 2021–2030. This is because such devices monitor the combined effect of heat and humidity on people, so that action can be taken before the occurrence of a heat stroke, the most severe of heat illnesses. In recent years, the increasing number of people suffering from heat illnesses and needing immediate medical help, as a result, has raised the importance of these devices.
For instance, in the summer of 2020, 5,800 people in Tokyo required immediate medical transportation due to heat stress. Of these, over half were aged 65 and above, which clearly shows the higher vulnerability of the elderly to heat stress. As per the World Economic Forum (WEF), more than one-third of the country’s population is made up of the elderly, which is why, considering the rising annual temperatures here and these people’s vulnerability to extreme heat, the demand for heat stress monitors will burgeon in the near future.
Moreover, the government of Japan has now laid down stringent regulations for the monitoring of the heat stress on people at workplaces. Employees of factories, especially foundries, have to heal with thousands of degrees of temperature for long hours. Though they wear protective clothing, they are at a risk of heat stress as such attire hampers the natural ventilation of the body. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency of Japan recorded 92,710 hospitalizations in the country due to heat strokes during May–September 2018.