Hot but not bothered

I've decided I'd like to stop in Japan on my way to or from Australia this August - it's been too long since I've been there, and now seems the time to check in with friends. (Word on the Tokyo street is that foreigners have fled.) Finding flights is an ordeal in itself, but a Japanese friend has warned me it might be no fun. I know that August is no picnic - although I've spent nearly four years in Japan over what must be close a score of trips and stays, I've always avoided August - but she tells me it will be particularly unpleasant this year as electricity rationing will mean less air conditioning. For the same reasons, the high-speed train to her city has not been running. A sobering reminder of the ongoing difficulties in the aftermath of the recent series of disasters. But that's why I need to go.