Japan to Survey Safety Management at Sauna Facilities

Tokyo, Jan. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japan's health ministry has asked local governments across the country to survey safety management at sauna facilities following a fatal accident in Tokyo last December, Jiji Press learned Saturday.

In a notice dated Wednesday, the ministry requested that a total of 157 prefectural governments and municipalities with public health centers report survey results by the end of this month.

Based on the results, the ministry plans to consider revising relevant national guidelines.

The nationwide survey will check the number of facilities with sauna equipment, the presence of emergency buzzers, how emergency liaison systems work, and the types of sauna doors, according to the ministry.

On Dec. 15, a couple died in a fire at a sauna facility with private rooms in Tokyo's Akasaka district. The two--Masanari Matsuda, a 36-year-old beauty salon owner, and his wife, Yoko, a 37-year-old nail technician--are believed to have been trapped in the sauna due to a broken doorknob. The emergency button in the sauna also appeared to be offline.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]