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Cited by 108Thermoregulation and physiological responsesClimate Change and Health ImpactsUrban Heat Island Mitigation

Preventing heat illness in the anticipated hot climate of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games

Open access
Kakamu, Takeyasu, Wada, Koji, Smith, Derek R., Endo, Shota, Fukushima, Tetsuhito·2017·Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
DOI 10.1186/s12199-017-0675-yPMC PMC5664809
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Abstract

Amid the effects of global warming, Tokyo has become an increasingly hot city, especially during the summertime. To prepare for the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, all participants, including the athletes, staff, and spectators, will need to familiarize themselves with Tokyo's hot and humid summer conditions. This paper uses the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index, which estimates the risk of heat illness, to compare climate conditions of sports events in Tokyo with the conditions of the past three Summer Olympics (held in Rio de Janeiro, London, and Beijing) and to subsequently detail the need for establishing appropriate countermeasures. We compared WBGT results from the past three Summer Olympics with the same time periods in Tokyo during 2016. There was almost no time zone where a low risk of heat illness could be expected during the time frame of the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We also found that Tokyo had a higher WBGT than any of those previous host cities and is poorly suited for outdoor sporting events. Combined efforts by the official organizers, government, various related organizations, and the participants will be necessary to deal with these challenging conditions and to allow athletes to perform their best, as well as to prevent heat illnesses among staff and spectators. The sporting committees, as well as the Olympic organizing committee, should consider WBGT measurements in determining the venues and timing of the events to better avoid heat illness and facilitate maximum athletic performance.

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  • Kakamu et al. (2017) found that heat conditions were comparatively inferior for sports tourists in Japan, including visitors, compared to prior Olympic Games locations.

    “Kakamu et al. (2017) compared 2016 thermal stress for Tokyo to the three prior Olympic Games locations in 2016, 2012, and 2008—Beejing, London, Rio De Janeiro, respectively—finding that heat conditions were comparatively inferior for sports tourists in Japan, including visitors.”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Kakamu et al. (2017)

    The Abstract reports that Tokyo had a higher WBGT than the three previous host cities, and the Conclusion identifies heat illness among spectators and tourists as a concern. However, the citing sentence assigns the Olympic years to the wrong cities: the comparison section lists Rio de Janeiro for 2016, London for 2012, and Beijing for 2008. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Our study represents a methodological advancement over prior studies that have relied solely on retrospective analyses.

    “Our study represents a methodological advancement over prior studies that have relied solely on retrospective analyses (e.g. Kakamu et al. 2017; Matzarakis and Fröhlich 2015; Matzarakis et al. 2018).”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Kakamu et al. 2017

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [1]National Institute for Environmental Studies. Bulletin report on heatstroke patients. http://www.nies.go.jp/gaiyo/archiv/risk8/english/index.html. Accessed 15 Sept 2017.

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Authors
Kakamu, T., Wada, K., Smith, D. R., Endo, S., & Fukushima, T.
Affiliations
  • Fukushima Medical University (JP)
  • National Center for Global Health and Medicine (JP)
  • James Cook University (AU)
Corresponding author
Kakamu, Takeyasu
ORCID
Venue
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-09-19
Volume
22
Issue
1
Pages
68-68
ISSN
  • 1342-078X (ISSN-L)
  • 1347-4715
DOI
10.1186/s12199-017-0675-y
PMC
PMC5664809
OpenAlex
W2756366791
Cited by
108
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 7
FWCI
7.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Center for Global Health and Medicine (27-4)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Keywords
heat illness prevention, wet bulb globe temperature, Paralympic Games, heat risk assessment, global warming, hot and humid climate, event venue selection, event timing, athletic performance, 2016 Rio Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics
MeSH terms
Anniversaries and Special Events, China, Climate, Environmental Monitoring, Hot Temperature, Humans, London, Sports, Tokyo, Heat Stress Disorders, Athletes

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