Global warming has impacted the dressing pattern in many countries. The Japanese for instance took advantage of technology on wearables to beat the Tokyo heat. Now jackets with built-in fans, neck coolers, and T-shirts that feel cold are available in the Japanese market.
Japan is seeing ever-hotter summers. This July was the warmest in 100 years, with at least 53 people dying of heatstroke and almost 50,000 needing emergency medical attention.
Workman, which makes clothes for construction workers, launched a version of their fan-fitted jackets adapted for the high street in 2020 as demand grew. The mechanism is simple — two electric, palm-sized fans powered by a rechargeable battery are fitted into the back of the jacket. They draw in air to then deliver a breeze — at variable speeds — onto the wearer’s body.
People who have never worn fan-equipped clothing before want to find ways to cool down as heat becomes unbearable. A Workman spokesman said more people are interested in buying it. It is just you feel cool when you are at home with a fan, you feel cool just by wearing (the jacket) because the wind is blowing through your body all the time, he added.
Japanese summers are known to be hot and humid, but this July Tokyo sweated. The average temperature was 28.7 Celsius, the highest on record since 1875. Heatstroke is particularly deadly in Japan, which has the second-oldest population in the world after Monaco. More than 80 percent of heat-related deaths in the past five years have been among senior citizens.
Some manufacturers are selling neck-cooling tubes mainly to factory and warehouse workers. Individuals as well as companies are putting more and more effort into measures against heat stroke every year. The gel inside brightly colored tubes — priced at 2,500 yen — is cool enough to use after 20 minutes in the fridge. Wearing it on the neck will “considerably cool the whole body” for about an hour, says the manufacturer.
A Tokyo-based company Liberta had a series of clothing including T-shirts and arm sleeves using prints that make users feel cool — especially when they sweat. The prints use materials such as xylitol that feel cool when reacting with water and sweat.
An Osaka-based company has even created office jackets and dresses equipped with electric fans. Regular fan-fitted clothes can make the wearer look puffy, as they need to be zipped up, and the cuffs are tight. But jackets developed jointly by Chikuma, power tool maker Makita and textile giant Teijin do not need to be buttoned up, thanks to a special structure that sandwiches the fans in two layers and keeps the cool air in.
Japanese innovate ways to produce dresses that keep wearer cool
