Cool biz

The reactors are still hot and it was discovered today that the millions of litres of water that has been poured into them has been leaking out means that the expected schedule for cooling needs to be revised.
The country has already been bearing up for an extra hot summer in anticipation of electricity shortages and outages. Many industries have been quick to bring out new products to fight the heat. Cool biz, an annual retail trend since 2005, is back-- this year a full month early with its May 1st launch. It will be extended by a month until October 31st too - just in case. Cool biz was originally introduced by the government to encourage its employees to turn up office thermostats to 28 degrees and wear casual clothes rather than suits and ties in summer months. They have never really gotten into it, but it caught on big in the private sector, thanks to plenty of media hype to make Cool biz really cool.
There has always been a cool biz line for women too, but this year, it has been renamed "cool elegance," to attract nonworking women.
Besides the fashion industry, the home scene is humming this year with lots of gadgets for keeping cool - from bedding to window covering to the good old uchiwa. I messed around with the setsubun expression "fuku wa uchi oni wa soto" (good luck in, devils out)  for a special summer slogan: "cool wa uchi, heat wa soto" [get it? :-)]

the faithful uchiwa

  ice pack?

a cooling neckband - apparently it cools the body for up to 9 hours, and reusable, bien sur

cooling mattress pad designed to absorb perspiration

polar bear spray to help you get through your day