A nationwide survey by the health ministry showed Wednesday that about 23% of some 13,000 sauna facilities across Japan do not have emergency buttons.
In a notice dated Tuesday, the ministry asked local governments to strengthen their supervision of saunas.
In January, the ministry asked municipalities to inspect safety management at saunas in the wake of a bench catching?fire and?killing?a couple in their 30s?in a private room of a facility in Tokyo＊s Minato Ward last December.
During that incident, the couple was trapped in the room as the doorknob came off, and the emergency button was believed to be out of service, according to the investigation by Tokyo＊s Metropolitan Police Department.
The survey also found that about 12% of sauna facilities did not have systems in place for customers to contact facility staff in an emergency and that 5% of facilities had problems with opening and closing doors.
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