I’m in central Japan and this summer has been by far the worst in the 9 years I’ve been here. Energy prices are also through the roof right now since TEPCO chose to slander and FUD nuclear energy instead of admitting that their chain of penny-pinching, engineer-ignoring poor decisions was ultimately responsible for the Fukushima meltdown. I suspect a lot of people, particularly the elderly, are going to be squeezed past the breaking point as electric bills are doubling and tripling and air conditioning becomes an unaffordable luxury.