This is my tenth summer living in Asia and I’ve finally succumbed.

Hong Kong summers are ridiculously hot and have a level of humidity that turns my hair into a lion’s mane or has it stuck flat to my head with sweat. There is no in-between.

Japan summer hasn’t fully hit yet as it’s a little further north, they have this season I haven’t experienced for quite some time – the season of spring. That said, it is also heating up and I’m told the humidity is not far away. Given the increasing regularity of the rain, I’d say it was already here but I’m no expert in Japan weather just yet.

In both cases, sweat and the general lack of shade are common factors.

Enter the umbrella.

Not only is it good for when it does rain (which happens quite frequently in both locations at this time of the year), it is also good for creating shade when the sun is beating down so hard that you can feel sweat being squeezed out of pores that you didn’t even know existed. Running in torrents, the salty tracks join to form bigger streams to run faster down the extremities and either drip off fingers or pool in shoes before hitting the pavement. It’s that humid, it doesn’t evaporate and cool. It runs or sits depending on your own position.

Creating a bit of shade lessens this.

The past two weekends, I’ve stepped out in the blazing sun with an umbrella. I am hiding it no longer and I refuse to be embarrassed or ashamed. I am embracing what is a sensible option.

People in Japan have been using sunshades for centuries in the desire to keep their skin pale so as to not look like part of working class as well as to make their perambulating a little more comfortable. HK people don’t tend to do this quite as much. Chinese people also do it for the same reason as the Japanese and they do it a lot at Ocean Park. The people in HK that do it tend to be mainly the Filipino and Indonesian helpers who also use the umbrellas, combined with torn cardboard boxes, to provide shelter for their picnics.

The downside to umbrellas in HK is the pathways are quite narrow and crowded so dodging them when it is raining is quite difficult. On sunny days, there’s a few less as people slowly stroll (quickly causes more sweat) into the next building to have a cold air-conditioning blast to freeze off any accumulated sweat gained from walking the short distance. I should be fine there.

There is little freezing air-con in Japan as they practice Cool-Biz which began in 2005 and continues due to the Fukushima power plant problems a few years back causing an energy shortage. It now runs May to October and has the added benefit of decreasing CO2 emissions. The government decreed that air-con should be set at no colder than 28 degrees during summer and there was no longer a need to wear jackets and ties to work. I’m not sure if there are exceptions to this or not but it seems that restaurants can be cooler but office buildings, from what I’ve felt, are not. Thankfully my office space has a cafe in it.

In any case, in Japan, from what I have seen so far, I will fit right in (well, as much as a tall blonde-haired, blue-eyed western woman can) as men and women both use umbrellas during the heat of the day. The big advantage here is that the paths are wide, people spread out and as an extra bonus, I’m tall. There’s little chance of an umbrella in my eye.

I’m not fussed if my skin is the whitest of white or the brownest of brown. I just like to feel cool and if carrying an umbrella is going to help, I am going to do it.

The other clever thing they do here is carry a small towel / handkerchief. Everyone does it, men, women and children, and it’s to mop up any sweat that does form. It’s actually multi-purpose. People use it in lieu of napkins or to soak up a spill or for washing their face in the bathroom to cool down before going back to work. They don’t look like the boring style handkerchiefs I’ve seen elsewhere. They come in a range of colours, patterns and fabrics with some even having cooling properties.

The only time I’ve seen similar in HK or China is when people go hiking and take either a face-towel / wash cloth or a hand towel. Often these are placed under the back of the shirt and stick out at the neck or are used to mop up the sweat. It’s not an attractive option for an unattractive necessity.

So, when in Japan… I’ve bought a couple of these too.

* Thanks to Children Collide for the title to this post. Unfortunately they’re not together anymore and their official website is down.