A heat wave hit central and eastern Japan on Tuesday, with the mercury hitting an all-time high for Tokyo at 39.5 C shortly before 1 p.m., topping the previous record of 39.1 C marked Aug. 3, 1994, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Nearly 190 people were taken to hospital with heatstroke nationwide, according to a Kyodo News survey as of 11 p.m.

As the temperature climbed, the demand for electricity also soared, with six of the nation's 10 electric power companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Co., logging record electricity supply for this year.

In Tokyo, the new high was logged at 12:58 p.m. at an observation point in central Tokyo's Otemachi business district. It was the highest temperature logged there since it started recording data in 1923, the agency said.

In Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, the temperature hit a record-high 39.9 C, exceeding the previous record of 39.8 C registered Aug. 4, 1994. It was the hottest reading since data were first recorded there in 1895.

The agency's unmanned automatic observation system took a reading of 40.2 C in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture. Figures from the AMeDAS or Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System are not recorded as official agency data.

''In the Kanto-Koshin region,'' an agency official said, ''a northerly wind came in due to a high-pressure system in western Japan, resulting in high temperatures and low humidity.''

The day's highs stood at 39.2 C in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, 38.4 C in Maebashi, 38.1 C in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, and 37.8 C in the city of Chiba.

Source: Agencies