cool biz

It is the first day of June. Ask Satoshi and he'll excitedly tell you that it is the start of Cool Biz.

For about 4 months, men in most companies can discard their neckties and suit jackets and put on short sleeved shirts, in other words--business casual. The Cool Biz campaign started last summer here in Japan. Since room temperatures should be kept at 28C (82.4F), it is necessary to do away with neckties and suit jackets. (They actually did experiments to see what the body temperature of people were with and without neckties on!) Of course, this campaign has come with some opposition, mainly from the Federation of Japanese Necktie Unions (yes, they actually have an agency like this!)

I think the hardest part for Satoshi when he came back to Japan in 2001(after living in Hawaii for 5 years, with business dress being aloha shirts and slacks) was reverting back to his suit/necktie. Of course, if you ask me, most of the office workers here in Japan have no need to wear a suit to work. Sure, if you are always in contact with clientele, then maybe, but if you are just cooped up in your office, at your desk, then business casual would definitely be a very economical and sensible choice.

In summer, women also use sun umbrellas. I have a couple myself and use them almost year round. One that I have is a black umbrella with an aluminum coating on the inside to make doubly sure that no rays come through. A lot of women in the Kansai area also have a gadget attached to their bicycles in order to hold up their sun umbrella while they ride their bicycle. Since the traffic rules are really fuzzy(non-existent) here, I don't ride a bicycle. This is a photo of a bicycle with the gadget in our neighborhood.

Lastly, something foodie...I got these Moonstruck Chocolates a while back from my Aunty M1. This gift pack has 5 different bars, 3 of which are a dark chocolate blend (yeah!) There is a milk chocolate, dark chocolate, dark chocolate variado (with ancho chili), dark chocolate espresso bean and ivory chocolate bar. I took the dark stuff and passed the milk and ivory to Satoshi.

One more day until the weekend!