Tokyo logs record 35 consecutive days of rain, with 'weather sickness' on the rise

Tokyo is experiencing its longest consecutive stretch of rainy days on record, with the prolonged lack of sunlight driving a rise in health complaints and sending vegetable prices higher.

According to NHK, the Japanese capital recorded rain for 35 consecutive days as of Wednesday, the longest such streak since record-keeping began in 1886. The previous record was 33 days, set from June 27 to July 29, 2019.

The autumn rainy season has extended across much of Japan, with growing numbers of people reporting headaches and other ailments. A woman in her 20s who visited a hospital in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday told NHK that her headaches had worsened whenever it rained over the past month, leaving her struggling to concentrate and feeling nauseous.

Doctors have attributed such symptoms to what is informally called "weather sickness" — not an official medical diagnosis, but a recognized phenomenon in which changes in atmospheric pressure or temperature disrupt the autonomic nervous system, causing headaches and mental fatigue.

The lack of sunlight is also expected to push key vegetable prices up by more than 30 percent. In its October price outlook released Wednesday, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries forecast that cabbage, lettuce and green pepper prices would exceed their five-year average for October by more than 30 percent.

Prices for spinach, broccoli, cucumber, eggplant and tomatoes were also projected to run 10 to 30 percent above average seasonal levels.

Sunshine hours in central Tokyo fell sharply as rain-prone weather persisted throughout September. As of Tuesday, the month had logged just 45.8 hours of sunshine — roughly 40 percent of the seasonal norm. Meteorologists attributed the prolonged wet weather to an autumn rain front that stalled near the Japanese mainland, compounded by a succession of approaching typhoons.