It is summer in Japan, which means shaved ice, cold noodles and parasols against the blinding sun — for men.
While women have used parasols, or higasa, for centuries, power conservation and increasingly hot summers have sent sales of men’s parasols sharply higher, with department stores across Japan scrambling for stocks.
“There’s been a spike in demand for men’s parasols of about three times since last summer,” said Mayumi Mio, a spokeswoman at Takashimaya, a major Tokyo department store.
POLITE
“Most of them buy it for business when they have to step outside of the office to go to a meeting. They feel that it’s rude to show up to work or a meeting all sweaty and worn out from the heat,” she said.
White, natural skin has long been thought beautiful for Asian women and Japanese men have also become increasingly skin-conscious in recent years, but the real jump in sales came last summer, after power cuts in the wake of the March 11 disaster prompted new ways to beat the heat.
According to the Environment Ministry, the combination of casual business attire such as short sleeves and no tie, and a sun umbrella, can cut up to 20 percent of heat stress, providing almost the same impact as walking under the shade cast by trees.
Kazuhiro Miyatake, the fourth generation to own and run the Shinsaibashi-Miyatake umbrella specialty store in the western city of Osaka, feels it’s high time that men be able to carry parasols as well, if they want.
“It’s your own portable shade you can carry around anywhere,” he said.
While women’s parasols run to lighter colors — pink, beige, white and red as well as black — those for men are more sombre shades of blue, grey and green. They also tend to be larger.
Prices can run from as little as ¥2,000 (US$25.56) up to ¥17,000, depending on the design and the materials.
PARASOL GOD
“I believe if there was a ‘parasol god,’ I’m positive it wouldn’t discriminate between men and women,” said Miyatake, who sells a thousand a year. “If men want to use parasols, they should be able to without shame.”
Japan is currently in the grip of a heat wave that sent temperatures in areas around Tokyo to well over 37oC by 1pm on Friday.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese