Saturday, July 21, 2007

Fight Summer heat and fatigue in Japanese way!

I used to live in Japan and Japanese summer is not an easy Summer. Hot, muggy and (add your own) never ending. Even if office allowed to wear summer attire "Cool Biz"(tie not required) I used to take a few baths a day. Because I perspire a lot. I am fine in hot weather as long as there is enough liquid to drink and water wash myself. But I have seen many fight it with less comfort and succumb to Natsubate, summer fatigue .
Anyway back to Japanese Summer fighting!
Tomoko Otake at The Japan Times has written a very nice article that made me remember the summers in Japan!, which I am looking forward to spend again in the future!
I am going to pick best parts and let you enjoy Tomoko's article by following th link below.

"Carry clothes that are easy to put on and take off: Many offices are excessively air-conditioned. Bring a cardigan or a long-sleeved shirt to your office and wear it when you feel cold. To counter the air conditioning, some office workers nowadays bring to their offices a yutampo (hot-water bottle), which many Japanese traditionally use to make their futon warm in the winter. You can buy yutampo at a drug store for a few thousand yen apiece. Another tip is to ask your office to turn their air conditioning down (which conserves energy, too.)

Get enough sleep: It might sound elementary, but sleep is indeed essential to avoid and recover from natsubate. If you have problems going to sleep because of the heat, place a bag of ice on your pillow for a few minutes, or turn on an air-conditioner with a timer, making sure that it switches off after several hours. Turning air conditioning on throughout the night is often a cause of natsubate.

Work out regularly: People who can sweat effectively are less likely to suffer from natsubate because their bodies are better conditioned to accommodate temperature changes. Regular exercise can prepare people for that. It also helps them build stamina to survive the summer."

All right now the link to Tomoko's article where you can find a recipe for Hiyajiru, ( a soup I enjoyed a lot) from hiyajiru otaku (obsessive fan of hiyajiru) among many other summer food sugestions;

How to survive summer fatigue by Tomoko Otake

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