Math is fun…
She lied.
But since Japan is metric, guess who has to get used to
thinking in terms of kilometers and yes, Celsius?
°C
x 9/5 + 32 = °F
(°F
- 32) x 5/9 = °C
Today, it was 27 degrees Celsius so that’s….anyone? Beuller?
80 degrees Fahrenheit! Well done!
And it’s only June. So when you’re a salaryman/woman or an
upstanding sensei with a company that prides itself on its professionalism,
what do you do with your jackets, ties and wool tights?
Well, set them on fire! Toss the suckers in the river! Bury
them at a crossroads! It’s officially Cool Biz season!
Back in 2005, the Japanese Ministry of Environment noticed
employees dropping like dehydrated, heat stroking flies. Or maybe they noticed
that Japan’s CO2 emissions were off the freaking charts and you weren’t so much
breathing the air as slicing off servings and huffing it out of a chawan. The
then MOE and government decided maybe it
would be a good idea to try getting the Japanese people to cut back on the CO2
and thusly, air conditioner use.
Seem a little counter-intuitive? It’s summer! Blast the A/C,
yes? Hang in there, my American,
humidity-hating friends.
Typical Japanese work dress is conservative and your typical
professional. Think of a law office: suits on men, power suits on women. A
woman’s typical uniform is a black or grey suit, blouse, conservative necklines
and hemlines. Men…suits. End of story. Tie. Deal with it. In the winter and
early spring, it’s a godsend. More layers, please! Schools and homes for that
matter are not as well insulated as western buildings. Instead, there are the
stoves, kerosene heaters and the good old family kotatsu.
But in the summer
when the humidity and mugginess is enough to make teachers and yes, students,
alike drop to the gymnasium floor in a dead faint, the last thing you want to
put on your 6am sticky shoulders is a jacket.
And thus, “Cool Biz” fashion was born.
The season kicks off at the very start of June and goes
until the end of October.
(For me, it started this past Monday, a week “fashionably”
late, and will go until mid-September. Show up late, leave early = cool kid on
the block)
There’s even something called “Super Cool Biz,” the next
level up in coolness, which involves sandals, trainers and jeans. JEANS!
So while you’re wearing your polos and your moisture-wicking
fabrics, you can breathe a little easier and flush slightly less red because
the thermostat is set at a chilly…
28 degrees.
Wait. What?
Remember what I said about what 28 degrees REALLY means to
us westerners? The thermostat is “turned down” to 28 degrees. Having been in
the schools of northern Japan, I’m a little baffled. I would imagine you’d be
better off turning the A/C off completely! If MOE is that concerned, you’d
think they’d ask buildings to turn off the units instead of circulating
slightly less oppressively hot air. But something is working because looking at
the numbers, CO2 and electric output have certainly decreased since Cool Biz’s
inception. In 2005 at the end of the season, the ministry estimated that CO2
emissions were reduced by about 460,000 tons: equal to about 1 million homes in
a month. In 2006, it about doubled.
But again, this is a bit of a double-edged sword. The numbers look good, and I certainly feel a refreshing breeze here and there, but the fact that the A/C units are kept running and not supposed to dip below a certain temperature is a bit…silly. Really, it keeps energy providers in business, but since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and power plants closing as a result, there has been an energy shortage. Another less sexy part of the campaign are the efforts people are encouraged to take to reduce energy consumption including turning off computers and other machines not in use and using public transportation or bicycles instead of private cars when possible.
 |
| Yeah, Takeshi, the memo clearly states you are officially too cool for school. |
And the campaigns! Oh the campaigns for Cool Biz! Japan is
such a fashion-centric country, so of course Cool Biz isn’t just a word, it’s
as significant to the calendar as New Year or Christmas! It’s a BIG DEAL! There
are sales, there are commercials,…and there are complaints.
The weirdest one actually comes from, get this, the necktie
industry! They say that tie sales drop off in the spring and stagnate during
the summer.
Though since Father’s Day is in June, you’d think they’d
campaign long and hard:
“Don’t dishonor Dad: buy a tie!”
“Nothing says ‘I love you, Dad, like a hug around the neck.”
 |
| Maybe not this formal...but close |
Or the slightly controversial seppuku campaign: “Necktie or
Die!”
The reality in the schools where I work is the teachers
typically wear t-shirts, khakis, sneakers and the classic socks-sandals combo.
Tracksuits are not uncommon either. It’s less Cool Biz and more, Chillax Biz.
One of my favorites is a woman who at first glance always looks very formal
with a flouncy black skirt, nylons, a black cardigan and a blouse…but then she
has old Nikes on her feet. Focus on the lesson, and never mind my reasonably comfortable
footwear!
However, you won’t see me in jeans, T and wedges. My Cool
Biz follows the more formal standards of what qualifies as Cool Biz including
cotton blouses, knee length skirts and conservative necklines and sleeves.
Remember how your parents made you dress up for church when
you were but a wee tot? That’s my daily routine. But for every batch of lemons,
there’s a pre-packaged instant lemonade and the Japanese solution to sleeves in
90+ degree weather are…
Are you ready for this?
Patches.
Adhesive patches you put on the inside of your
sleeves under your armpit to absorb the sweat and avoid pit stains! If you want
the real Japanese cultural experience out there in America, just take a maxipad
and wedge it under your arm! Welcome to the mysterious and exotic Land of the
Rising Sun!
 |
| NEVER AGAIN! |
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