Sun Protection
This week the sun has finally come out in force, with a temperature of 35 degrees plus 80 percent humidity. Oh lovely Japanese summer!
Hailing from temperate Vancouver, I can tolerate only the bare minimum of clothing, and must rest frequently in the shade. I protect myself, and my daughter with sunglasses, big hats and a thick coat sunscreen on all exposed skin. We have been turning ever so slowly from fair to golden brown.
This year I have noticed two new trends in sun protection for Japanese women, which I will endeavor to shoot and show here. Long gloves, and dark visors.
The gloves are not so new, and I have seen this kind of protection being worn before: a kind of thick cotton fingerless glove, which reaches up above the elbow. Everyone is wearing them - From middle-aged obason, young office ladies on their lunch breaks in uniform, mothers in the park with their young children to impeccably dresses women. Black is the most common colour and according to an informal survey made yesterday, they also uncomfortably hot. One woman assured me that the suntan would make her feel worse than being over dressed.
Japanese women have the loveliest skin imaginable. Their age is barely discernable. Only from fashion and perhaps language can I tell the difference between 25 and 55. They eat well, sleep well, and have fabulous DNA. They often walk around with parasols and wide-brimmed hats, and now gloves. The cosmetics industry has been touting UV block products for a long time here as "whitening". Many wear long sleeved shirts and pants for further protection. Women elsewhere in the world take pains to protect their skin, but do not necessarily value pale skin, and might also paint on a coating of "false tan" at the same time.
Other than obvious reasons of safety, what could be at the root of this desire to be whiter?
The other major new sun protection of choice is a UV-block head visor, which consists of a band around the head, with a dark translucent plastic extended brim. This is worn either straight out like a hat brim, or tilted down to cover the entire face (which looks quite a bit like Darth Vader). This type of sun protection seems to be popular with older women on bicycles, out to do the daily shopping. I am guessing their ages to be 50 plus, but then again it is so hard to tell their age, and I have been mistaken before.
Interestingly enough, I found out that this obsessive sun protection does not extend to children. On a recent trip to an outdoor public pool, I noticed a group 100 or more kids from a neighboring public pre-school. They got into the pool for about one hour between 10:30 and 11:30. Not one of them was wearing a hat, sunglasses, or apparently, sunscreen. A friend pointed out a sign beside the pool that stated that in order to keep the pool clean, swimmers are not permitted in the pool wearing sunblock.
I guess Raina and I will just have to lotion up on the sly!
Hailing from temperate Vancouver, I can tolerate only the bare minimum of clothing, and must rest frequently in the shade. I protect myself, and my daughter with sunglasses, big hats and a thick coat sunscreen on all exposed skin. We have been turning ever so slowly from fair to golden brown.
This year I have noticed two new trends in sun protection for Japanese women, which I will endeavor to shoot and show here. Long gloves, and dark visors.
The gloves are not so new, and I have seen this kind of protection being worn before: a kind of thick cotton fingerless glove, which reaches up above the elbow. Everyone is wearing them - From middle-aged obason, young office ladies on their lunch breaks in uniform, mothers in the park with their young children to impeccably dresses women. Black is the most common colour and according to an informal survey made yesterday, they also uncomfortably hot. One woman assured me that the suntan would make her feel worse than being over dressed.
Japanese women have the loveliest skin imaginable. Their age is barely discernable. Only from fashion and perhaps language can I tell the difference between 25 and 55. They eat well, sleep well, and have fabulous DNA. They often walk around with parasols and wide-brimmed hats, and now gloves. The cosmetics industry has been touting UV block products for a long time here as "whitening". Many wear long sleeved shirts and pants for further protection. Women elsewhere in the world take pains to protect their skin, but do not necessarily value pale skin, and might also paint on a coating of "false tan" at the same time.
Other than obvious reasons of safety, what could be at the root of this desire to be whiter?
The other major new sun protection of choice is a UV-block head visor, which consists of a band around the head, with a dark translucent plastic extended brim. This is worn either straight out like a hat brim, or tilted down to cover the entire face (which looks quite a bit like Darth Vader). This type of sun protection seems to be popular with older women on bicycles, out to do the daily shopping. I am guessing their ages to be 50 plus, but then again it is so hard to tell their age, and I have been mistaken before.
Interestingly enough, I found out that this obsessive sun protection does not extend to children. On a recent trip to an outdoor public pool, I noticed a group 100 or more kids from a neighboring public pre-school. They got into the pool for about one hour between 10:30 and 11:30. Not one of them was wearing a hat, sunglasses, or apparently, sunscreen. A friend pointed out a sign beside the pool that stated that in order to keep the pool clean, swimmers are not permitted in the pool wearing sunblock.
I guess Raina and I will just have to lotion up on the sly!
posted by watashi at 2:02 PM
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