Hi, I’m Sareh, I am the English teacher at ASSORT.

I hope you have all been enjoying the summer so far. Today, I wish to share a few tips on how to survive the Japanese summer.

Even though I love summer and hot weather, I have to admit the Japanese humid summer can get a little overwhelming. The first few summers here I was sweating like crazy and almost melting to defeat. Then I started noticing some things the locals did to beat the heat and keep it together the whole season. If you have these two simple items, you will have a much cooler and more comfortable summer here:

  1. A sweat towel. Well that is my name for it. And it may sound gross but it is simply a rectangle shaped towel that you can hang around your neck, and when you start sweating you just wipe the sweat off with the ends of the towel. You can get creative and even wrap it around your head in different ways. The traditional Japanese “Tenugui” towels are perfect for this purpose as they are thin, cotton towels that are still quite absorbent and dry very quickly. Or you can just use a simple thin hand towel. When you don’t have sweat dripping off your face, elbows and underarms you are going to feel so much more comfortable, cool and collected in summer and once you start using one, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t up til now!

  1. A Fan. Yes, a simple fan. It may seem like a cliche item or just for show but actually it works a treat by creating a breeze in the still, humid air helping you to cool down. There are two types, first my favourite, the folding fan “Sensu”, it’s compact and easy to carry and use. When you want to use it, pull it out of your bag flick it open and fan away. It looks cool and cools you down. The second one, “Uchiwa”, is a flat fan. If you are lucky you could score an Uchiwa on the street as they are handed out in summer as they have advertising printed on them. Both women and men use these fans. You can even hold it up above your head to keep the sun off your face.

Whenever my friends come to visit Japan in the summer, I am sure to put these two items in their welcome pack. You can buy both these items at most 100yen shops, LOFT, Tokyu Hands, Don Quijote shops, department stores, Japanese souvenir shops … almost anywhere …

Get them and don’t leave home without them, keep cool and enjoy your summer!

Sareh

*Did you know eating Laver and Wakame helps reduce the odour of your sweat?

*Did you know fans were used as weapons, giving signals in battle, denoting someone’s rank and still used in ceremonies and for dancing?