is carrying a parasol weird?

Hello! I will be traveling to Japan during the hottest months of the summer. As I am extremely fair-skinned (borderline albino-looking!), I am wondering about using a parasol. I know that where I live, it would be weird to see someone walking around carrying one. However, I am wondering if this is so strange in Japan since many young girls care about their skin (where I live, the "tan" look is cool, so people don't care as much here). I don't mean older women, though. I just want to know if it's normal for a girl at age 21 to carry a parasol in the city during summertime.

Please don't feel like you have to tell me it's normal because my skin is fair and you feel it's some sort of disability.. I can find other ways of protecting my skin if this way would be weird-looking. Also, I'm not asian at all, so I don't know if it would look odd for a white person to be doing this. I don't want to look like I'm mocking the Japanese or "trying to act like I'm Japanese". Would it be the equivalent of me wearing a kimono everywhere?

Sorry this is such a weird question! I should add that I'll be visiting some friends while I'm there (I do this every other year for a few months), so don't want them to make fun of me as "parasol girl" for years to come.

Thanks!!

Elizabeth,

Many young (and old) women in Japan carry parasols in summer, so I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid at all. So, no, it wouldn't be at all weird.

Yes, having been over in some scorching September days, not only were pretty much most of the women I saw carrying umbrellas, but they also wore hats with biggish brims and long sleeved shirts. Even the men were wearing long sleeved shirts. They dont wear sunglasses much though, that I've seen.

Thank you both for the helpful information! I'll definitely use a parasol :)

It's not weird at all. I sometimes carry a parasol in summer, and I've seen other fair-skinned non-Japanese with them as well. As Dave in Saitama says, it's really common for Japanese women to carry them, with or without the big hats and long sleeves.

Elizabeth,

If "it would be weird to see someone walking around carrying one" where you live, you might even want to consider buying one after you arrive to Japan. They're sold everywhere in all different shapes and colors, including portable ones that fit in your purse. They even have trends.

http://www.google.co.jp/images?q=%E4%BB%8A%E5%B9%B4%E3%81%AE%E6%97%A5%...

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that it's perfectly normal. I once brought an umbrella with me to a golf tournament (in the heat of Las Vegas, where I live) and my friends hassled me about it, people who worked in booths questioned me or said things like, "wow, you must be serious about skin protection! Take it easy, haha" , and I got lots of weird looks. So, it is definitely weird where I'm from... (plus I've never ever seen someone using a parasol or umbrella to shade themselves from the sun aside from my fellow childhood golfing friend from Japan, Kumiko Kaneda, hah!). Anyway, now I have one more question about the parasol...


Will it most likely hit people as I walk down the street? How can I avoid hitting people? I'm 5'6, so kind of an in-between height for japan.

If this summer is anything like summer last year, you'll want to have a parasol, elbow high gloves, big celebrity sunglasses, SPF50 sunscreen, and once of those huge visor hats.

UV rays have been brutal in recent years. Regardless of your skin color/tone, last year was painful.

Until a few years ago people may have thought someone in full UV protection mode was going overboard but lately it is the norm for women.

We men are just expected to bake and die though!

I feel so bad for men! :(

Please don't 'bake and die'!

lol :-p

Yes, hopefully we will not go extinct this year (笑)

Seriously though last year was so bad I had to give up my early morning runs along Kamogawa for fear of death by UV ray.

I made it through July but by August I was just in pain. This summer I'm sticking to the gym...

I live in Western Canada. some women carry a parasol in the summer and no one think that it is strange at all...

Elizabeth,

I know what you mean, because I grew up in sunny southern California and definately parasols are only for old ladies who use them to hit burglers!

No, I know what you mean by the fear of hitting people:) Well, mind you, Japan rains all year round. (In other words, you need both the sun parasol and rain umbrella, as they are two different things fashion-wise.)

So the locals are very much used to walking in the crowd with umbrella-formed objects. I don't know how well you'd be at it, but I suppose you can say that the trick is to raise or slant your parasol/umbrella when necessary. You might want to half-way fold them at certain points.

You can also try to buy a smaller parasol, as that is often enough to protect you. On the other hand, a bigger rain umbrella is quite handy.

I found photos of a crowd queueing for H&M Ginza with give-away parasols from the shop.
http://kiccho.ausp.net/archives/2008/09/h_and_m_open.html

Haha, that's hilarious! Yes-- old ladies hitting burglars is exactly what I was thinking with the parasol thing!

Thanks for the tips. I've been to Japan during the rainy season before, but felt everyone was walking in a certain "we're all carrying umbrellas" rhythm, rather than "let's walk normally until some annoying person with an umbrella strolls on by, knocking off our non-umbrella carrying" rhythm.


...Please pretend that all made sense.

I will definitely try to use your tips, and thanks for those photos. They instantly made me feel better! So many people with parasols!

Last year for the first time I started to see men with parasols in Tokyo- mostly older men (60+), but I saw a few who might have been in their 30s or 40s- not sure if the idea will catch on though. I know you will never see my husband with one, he tans easily and likes to go brown!

Like other people have said, avoiding people with parasols is the same as with umbrellas, only probably easier because when it rains everyone has an umbrella, but not everyonw will have a parasol when it's sunny. Being pretty tall I usually hold my umbrella/parasol up really high if I pass someone in a narrow place, which seems to work.

Yes I think it is fine. For the UV reason it seems very sensible. Japanese women have been hiding from the rays for years long before anyone worried about the affects of UV. It was more for beauty reasons, even today many Japanese women use a parasol because they associate darker skinned people with working outside, poverty, foreigners etc. So your fair complexion maybe the envy of many Japanese women with these rather old world notions of beauty.
However, the white look isnt for everyone, japan is the land of extremes so in Shibuya you may notice girls with loads of make up, white around the eyes and
very tanned skin.

Sorry to post here again, guys. I finally recovered my login password and wanted to bookmark this thread (because you were all so helpful!)

I was "Elizabeth (guest)", by the way. :]

The image of a fiery haired alabaster beauty toting a parasol would likely stop traffic in Japan.

Please be responsible with it, and, if possible, try to avoid:

White lace dresses.
Exagerrated daintiness.

When I was in Japan over a decade ago, a large number of women carried parasols. However, sunglasses are a different matter. I have to wear them due to eye problems, but in Japan they are associated with Yakuza (mafia), it's almost like part of the uniform, so other people don't want to wear them. They're de rigeur for surfers though.