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Japanese inventors step up to offer relief from sweltering heat

21 Comments
By Kwiyeon Ha

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An electrical coil with Freon and fan is s great invention. What to call this...conditioner of air?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

temperatures at 38 degrees or more, a level unseen since record-keeping began.

In 2000, temperatures were in the low 40's for over a week, and tarmac was sticking to tyres. Temperatures remained in the mid to low 30°C's right through to December 16th of that year. Not sure where the author gets their information, but it's somewhat incorrect!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Future invention can be a small cold vapor cylinder that you can refill, you carry it on your back (bag) and connect to the skeletons of an umbrella of this purpose. When you open it the cold air falls from there. Isn't that good!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Insulating homes will save money and keep them cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Those awful metal shutters many houses have act like storage heaters, so when they are closed at night raise the temperature inside.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I dont really understand why so late start for marathon, most south asian countries , normal even non olympic marathons start at 5:30 or 6am ... even Ultramarathons here normally start very early ..

7am is proper hot already with only about 1hour until sun starts blazing

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Do away once and for all with the old wives’ tale of it being dangerous/unhealthy to run the aircon while you sleep, and lower the electricity rates for,these two months so people can use it without going broke! It enrages me when they say on the weather report that it will be hard to sleep because of the heat (mata negurushii yoru). Use that time to encourage people to take care of themselves instead!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Just out of curiosity, will cloud seeding to introduce 'controlled rainfall', work?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The cooler jacket works, but charging batteries raises the heat all over Japan. As most people wear shoes, adding chemicals to ashfelt will only benefit dogs and reflecting UV up into the faces of women with umbrellas will maybe not be popular.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

A jacket that cools the wearer had side panels carrying two built-in battery-operated fans, to draw in air, and help evaporate sweat.

Yes I guess drawing air at 39 degrees celsius which is 2 degrees hotter than normal body temp is really going to help. Just the thought of putting on a jacket in temperatures of 30 degrees or more makes me perspire just thinking about it! Brilliant!!!

factory mist sprayers were on offer at a trade fair

Really! Thats a new invention??? Perhaps the headline should read more accurately as "Japanese companies regurgitate old technology during heat wave"

A compound produced by Fujita Road Construction Co Ltd makes pedestrians feel a couple of degrees cooler, by reflecting heat and ultraviolet rays after it is sprayed on asphalt and concrete road surfaces to cut temperatures by 10 to 15 Celsius.

So where is all that reflected heat going to...up the skirts or trousers of the pedestrians walking on it. Sounds like you are just walking on heated coal. This one screams costly gimmik but I'm sure there will some government imbecile ready to spend a small fortune of tax payers money on using this on the roads, or would they be clever and pennywise enough to apply it only at pedestrian crossings...I highly doubt it!

"It's so cool it feels like you're wearing an air conditioner on your back," construction worker Ryunosuke Furusawa, 45, said of the jacket...

...who just happened to be standing next to the display when the reporter was there...in an already air-conditioned trade fair venue. What a load of old tosh! Has to be hands down the worst bit of reporting I have seen from this publication.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It's so great to see these brainiacs creating totally useless and gimicky products to cash in on the plight of the people who do not have enough education and common sense to keep themselves alive during extreme temps. How fantastic, NOT!

7 ( +10 / -3 )

A jacket with built-in fans,

Oh yeah I saw these. I wonder how cool these jackets can keep you and if they are really helpful against heat strokes.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

We need more street trees, lots and lots of trees. Maybe stop pruning them back so heavily. Looks nice but provides little to no shade.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I need air conditioning.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

How about inventing a machine that prevents city workers from going out and cutting all the branches off of every tree each year (seemingly always right before the heat arrives)?

This!

11 ( +12 / -1 )

How about inventing a machine that prevents city workers from going out and cutting all the branches off of every tree each year (seemingly always right before the heat arrives)?

That would really help.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

An Australian friend of mine used to recommend shorts for men.

Free water fountains might help. They used to be common at stations and other places, but I suppose vending machines are more profitable as they sell water for 120 yen for a small bottle. That can add up on a hot day to what is quite a lot for an old person who is no longer working, a child or someone earning less than 1,000 yen an hour.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Marathon starting at 7?

Wont make a bit of difference other than finishing earlier!

I leave for work just after 6 and the sun is well awake and beating down on me.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

A hat with a built-in mist capability to keep the head and neck cool makes a huge difference.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Here's a few inventions: water, shade, air conditioning. Oh and common sense

13 ( +15 / -2 )

A jacket with built-in fans, a road coating to rein in heat and factory mist sprayers were on offer at a trade fair in the Japanese capital on Thursday as it struggles with record heat two years before it hosts the Summer Olympics.

None of these things are actually new. Construction workers have been using the jackets with fans for years, the road coating too, and mist sprayers as well.

It's not so much about the athletes, as Olympic level athletes train in all sorts of conditions to prepare for their events, its the folks who sit or stand for hours watching that are going to need all the help they can get to avoid heat stroke or worse!

9 ( +9 / -0 )

The heat has stoked concerns about the suitability of Tokyo as a venue for the 2020 Olympics, set to begin on July 24 and finish on August 9, when the men's marathon will be held, starting from 7:00 a.m.

Yes. You would think that someone would have thought about this beforehand. It isn't as if hot and humid summers had just started.

Here's a bright idea! Equip the marathon runners with those jackets with the cooling fans and oxygen bottles. That way they can keep cool and breathe!

10 ( +10 / -0 )

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