Japan sizzles in first 'brutally hot' days of the year

Japanese Macaques (or Snow Monkeys) groom each other in a hot spring at a snow-covered valley in Yamanouchi town, central Japan, on Jan 20, 2014. (File photo: Reuters)

TOKYO — ⁠Japan ⁠sizzled under sweltering, life-threatening ​heat on Wednesday, with temperatures expected to ​top 40 ‌degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some cities in what the government has newly designated as a "brutally hot day."

The weather agency ​issued ⁠heat stroke alerts for much of the country, forecasting a second straight day of "kokushobi" - literally meaning ‌brutally hot day - with temperatures expected to reach 40°C in Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, and ⁠Nagoya, in central Japan.