23 pct of Japan sauna facilities do not have panic buttons

In a notice dated Tuesday, the ministry asked local governments to strengthen their supervision of sauna facilities.

In January, the ministry asked municipalities to inspect safety management at sauna facilities in the wake of a fire that killed a couple in their 30s after a bench caught fire in a private room of a sauna facility in Tokyo's Minato Ward last December.

In the 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 pct of sauna facilities did not have systems in place for customers to contact facility staff in an emergency and that five pct of facilities had problems with opening and closing doors.