Do you want to fight the heat? Here are five anti-heat gadgets that come from Japan

In 2024, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment introduced a new level of warning against extreme heat, which can be activated when the perceived heat index exceeds 35 degrees within an entire prefecture. The official recommendations, resumed again for this year, are clear: the authorities recommend staying at home and keeping the air conditioner on even at night, without feelings of guilt, especially for the elderly, those most exposed to risk. This is not an excess of caution, given that, between May and September 2024 alone, almost 98,000 people ended up in hospital for heatstroke. In such a context, it is not surprising that the Japanese have developed an entire economy of small objects designed to cool not the room, but the person. Five of these, among the most popular, are also found on Amazon Italy. We checked them one by one.

The neck fan

Anyone who has walked around Shibuya in July will surely have come across dozens of them: a soft headband that hooks behind the neck, with two small propellers that blow air towards the face and throat. It frees your hands, works with a rechargeable battery and does not lower the air temperature, but accelerates it, promoting the evaporation of sweat, which is the cooling system that the body uses on its own. On Amazon we find a USB rechargeable portable neck fan with three speeds and LED lights.

The mini foldable fan, with the battery that also charges your phone

Less conspicuous than the neck one, it closes in a few centimeters and disappears into a pocket. JISULIFE, a brand that dominates this segment both in Japan and elsewhere, has added a very useful function, namely the internal battery which, if necessary, becomes a power bank for the smartphone. A useful detail on days when the heat and social media drain the phone’s charge at the same speed. The best-selling model is the JISULIFE portable fan with 4500 mAh power bank and integrated flashlight.

The towel that cools itself

They call him hiyashi taoru (the refreshing towel) and to use it you have to wet it, wring it out and shake it a couple of times: at that point, the mesh texture of the microfibre triggers evaporative cooling which lasts a few hours, as long as you always keep it well humidified. It accompanies runners, cyclists and anyone who has the misfortune of working outdoors in the worst months. The Fit-Flip microfibre refreshing towel, tested according to the Oeko-Tex standard, is available on Amazon.

The umbrella that protects from the sun, not from the rain

In Italy the umbrella remains a thing for rainy days, while in Japan the so-called higasa it is a daily accessory used in summer, used equally by men and women: the internal lining, often silver, repels UV rays before they reach the skin and hair, with a decidedly marked effect on the perceived temperature for anyone who finds themselves walking in direct sun. Among the models with UV protection on sale on Amazon is the Perletti folding parasol umbrella with internal anti-UV coating.

The mini desk air conditioner

It’s worth being precise here, because the name could be misleading: it’s not an air conditioner, but an evaporative cooler that atomizes water (often mixed with ice cubes) through a fan, creating a small pocket of cool air within a radius of about a meter. With smart working multiplying poorly air-conditioned home workstations, in Japan it has become almost as common a desk accessory as the mouse. On Amazon we have the Beper P206RAF200, mini table cooler with 7-color chromotherapy and USB power supply.

Happy summer!