Summer Survival Products in Japan 2025
By Jessie Carbutt
Summer wind chimes. Summer scenery in Japan. Accessories to heal the summer heat.
When Tokyo starts to feel like a subtropical soup, it's time to upgrade your summer strategy for staying cool and hydrated. Whether you're commuting, festival-hopping, or simply trying not to melt in your sleep, here's your go-to list of 2025's best summer survival products in Japan that I've suffered in Japan's Augusts for, so you don't have to.
G-Zero Lightweight Parasol – From Tokyu Hands, Built to Last
Hands down the best parasols. The G-Zero is ultra-light, ultra-UV-blocking, and ultra-tiny. It fits into even my smallest summer bags without weighing me down, and it's engineered to not flip or break (I've had mine for five years—still perfect). This Tokyu Hands exclusive is like carrying your own portable patch of shade.
Where to buy: Tokyu Hands
Price: ¥3,850
UNIQLO & MUJI Summer Tees
Sweat. Patches. I cannot deal. When I first arrived in Japan, I noticed that I was always the only one on the train with sweat patches. Literally no one else had them. Turns out you just need cotton you can trust, and both UNIQLO and MUJI deliver. Their summer lines feature breathable cotton or AIRism blends that wick away sweat without leaving stains or patches. Minimalist, soft, and odor-resistant.
Where to buy: Tokyu Hands, UNIQLO, Muji
Price: ¥2,000+
Disposable Cooling Sheets
Pop into any convenience store or pharmacy and you'll find racks of cooling wipes—the secret weapon of salarymen, cyclists and anyone braving Tokyo trains. The best brands (according to me): GATSBY Ice-Type, Biore SaraSara and Sea Breeze. These sheets are like menthol shots for your skin. Keep them chilled in the fridge for maximum effect.
Where to buy: Any drugstore or combini
Price: ¥500
Freeze Your Combini Drink
Grab a bottle of Pocari Sweat or mugicha, or electrolyte jelly pouches from 7-Eleven or Lawson, throw it in your freezer, and take it to go. Some combini's even sell them frozen. It thaws into a cold, slushy heaven.
Where to buy: Any drugstore or combini
Price: ¥100 – ¥300
Nitori's Cooling Bedding
Nitori's N-Cool Series includes cooling pillows, mattress pads, and bedsheets designed to wick heat and stay chill against your skin. The 2025 models have added moisture absorption and anti-odor tech. Realistically, I feel it's mostly a placebo effect that I'm feeling cooler using them, but it's certainly better than regular bedding or a thick duvet.
Where to buy: Nitori
Price: ¥1,990+
Cooling Spray Mists
Pocket-sized bottles that spritz a menthol mist on your skin or clothes. Try the Shoshugen Cool Spray or Biore Cooling Mist for a mid-day reset.
Where to buy: Tomod's, Matsumoto Kiyoshi
Price: ¥764
Furin Japanese Wind Chimes
Not a physical cooling tool, but a psychologically cooling effect for your brain. The soft tinkling sound evokes breezes and creates a calm, cooler-feeling environment. Hang by a window or balcony to get those mood-based chill points. Daiso has cheap ones that make great souvenirs for friends, too.
Where to buy: Daiso
Price: ¥1,500+
Portable Fan – The MVP of Every Japanese Summer
If there's one thing I refuse to leave home without between July and September, it's a rechargeable portable fan. Whether I'm waiting on a platform with no breeze in sight or standing in a festival crowd, this little lifesaver gives instant relief. Look for ones with adjustable speed settings and a neck strap (trust me). Some even double as power banks. I've dropped mine about five times and it's still spinning strong.
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Metropolis Japan
18 hours ago
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Summer Survival Products in Japan 2025
It's time to upgrade your summer strategy for staying cool and hydrated By Jessie Carbutt Summer wind chimes. Summer scenery in Japan. Accessories to heal the summer heat. When Tokyo starts to feel like a subtropical soup, it's time to upgrade your summer strategy for staying cool and hydrated. Whether you're commuting, festival-hopping, or simply trying not to melt in your sleep, here's your go-to list of 2025's best summer survival products in Japan that I've suffered in Japan's Augusts for, so you don't have to. G-Zero Lightweight Parasol – From Tokyu Hands, Built to Last Hands down the best parasols. The G-Zero is ultra-light, ultra-UV-blocking, and ultra-tiny. It fits into even my smallest summer bags without weighing me down, and it's engineered to not flip or break (I've had mine for five years—still perfect). This Tokyu Hands exclusive is like carrying your own portable patch of shade. Where to buy: Tokyu Hands Price: ¥3,850 UNIQLO & MUJI Summer Tees Sweat. Patches. I cannot deal. When I first arrived in Japan, I noticed that I was always the only one on the train with sweat patches. Literally no one else had them. Turns out you just need cotton you can trust, and both UNIQLO and MUJI deliver. Their summer lines feature breathable cotton or AIRism blends that wick away sweat without leaving stains or patches. Minimalist, soft, and odor-resistant. Where to buy: Tokyu Hands, UNIQLO, Muji Price: ¥2,000+ Disposable Cooling Sheets Pop into any convenience store or pharmacy and you'll find racks of cooling wipes—the secret weapon of salarymen, cyclists and anyone braving Tokyo trains. The best brands (according to me): GATSBY Ice-Type, Biore SaraSara and Sea Breeze. These sheets are like menthol shots for your skin. Keep them chilled in the fridge for maximum effect. Where to buy: Any drugstore or combini Price: ¥500 Freeze Your Combini Drink Grab a bottle of Pocari Sweat or mugicha, or electrolyte jelly pouches from 7-Eleven or Lawson, throw it in your freezer, and take it to go. Some combini's even sell them frozen. It thaws into a cold, slushy heaven. Where to buy: Any drugstore or combini Price: ¥100 – ¥300 Nitori's Cooling Bedding Nitori's N-Cool Series includes cooling pillows, mattress pads, and bedsheets designed to wick heat and stay chill against your skin. The 2025 models have added moisture absorption and anti-odor tech. Realistically, I feel it's mostly a placebo effect that I'm feeling cooler using them, but it's certainly better than regular bedding or a thick duvet. Where to buy: Nitori Price: ¥1,990+ Cooling Spray Mists Pocket-sized bottles that spritz a menthol mist on your skin or clothes. Try the Shoshugen Cool Spray or Biore Cooling Mist for a mid-day reset. Where to buy: Tomod's, Matsumoto Kiyoshi Price: ¥764 Furin Japanese Wind Chimes Not a physical cooling tool, but a psychologically cooling effect for your brain. The soft tinkling sound evokes breezes and creates a calm, cooler-feeling environment. Hang by a window or balcony to get those mood-based chill points. Daiso has cheap ones that make great souvenirs for friends, too. Where to buy: Daiso Price: ¥1,500+ Portable Fan – The MVP of Every Japanese Summer If there's one thing I refuse to leave home without between July and September, it's a rechargeable portable fan. Whether I'm waiting on a platform with no breeze in sight or standing in a festival crowd, this little lifesaver gives instant relief. Look for ones with adjustable speed settings and a neck strap (trust me). Some even double as power banks. I've dropped mine about five times and it's still spinning strong.
Tokyo Weekender
a day ago
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The Dos and Don'ts of What to Wear in Japan in the Summer
Japan in July and August (and even into September) feels like a sauna. Daytime highs hover in the mid-30s and humidity is brutal. Dressing for such intense heat is always a bit of a challenge, but for tourists and transplants it raises an additional quandary: How much skin is OK to show? Here's how to stay cool while respecting social cues and ignoring unwanted attention, with tips that locals use to stay crisp and composed even on sweltering days. List of Contents: Sun Protection Revealing Clothing in Japan: How Much Skin is Too Much? Body Hair and Grooming Dressing for Cultural and Sacred Spaces Bottom Line Related Posts Sun Protection While southern Europe answers the sun with bare shoulders, Japan fights back with technology. UV avoidance is practically civic duty, bound up with two motives: an old aesthetic ideal that equates pale skin with refinement, and a modern fear of skin cancer. Arm covers, neck gaiters, UPF hoodies and parasols are everywhere. Sun umbrellas are a great way to avoid sunburn and stay cool, and carrying one won't get you any weird looks — a 2025 survey found that nearly 65 percen t of men have recently seen other men carrying a sun umbrella. Style blogs list dark-colored accessories as the most effective at blocking rays, and Uniqlo's UV-cut line sells out each summer. Revealing Clothing in Japan: How Much Skin is Too Much? When it comes to showing skin, legs are the least controversial body part you can display. Tokyo has treated the miniskirt as ambient decor since the late 1990s, so most people tend not to bat an eye when faced with one. Cleavage and midriff, however, are a different story. Some link the reaction to bowing culture, where leaning forward while baring your chest feels inadvertently intimate. Crop tops are becoming more common in youth-heavy districts like Shibuya and Harajuku, but they still turn heads in smaller cities. Bare shoulders, too, can be seen as inappropriate — most women tend to cover them even in the height of summer. For men, the eternal question is shorts. Yes, you can wear them. But they tend to read more casual, and often more touristy, especially when paired with graphic tees or flip-flops. Tokyo locals who do wear shorts usually stick to tailored cuts that fall just above the knee, and gym shorts tend to stay in gyms. Indoors, you'll encounter the paradox of Japanese climate control. Office towers and commuter trains often overshoot their own Cool Biz guidelines, chilling cars to twenty-six degrees or lower. Many seasoned commuters keep a light cardigan or shawl stashed in their bag or draped over their shoulders year-round. It may seem laughable at street level, but that extra layer is often the only thing standing between you and an unseasonal case of goosebumps. Body Hair and Grooming Grooming norms in Japan lean noticeably toward the hairless. The domestic laser hair removal market is projected to reach around $126 million by 2030, with men now the fastest-growing clientele. This attitude runs deep enough that the word for body hair, mudage , translates literally to 'unwanted hair.' That said, times are shifting. Body hair positivity is beginning to gain traction. One major razor brand recently announced it would stop using the term 'unwanted hair' in its advertising. So no, no one will be handing you a razor — and no one should. But just be aware that visible body hair, especially when more of your skin is exposed in the summer, tends to stand out more here than it might elsewhere. Dressing for Cultural and Sacred Spaces There are no official dress codes posted at the gates of most Japanese temples and shrines — no long lists of banned items, no robed monks measuring skirt length with a ruler. But that doesn't mean there aren't expectations. What you wear to Meiji Jingu or Fushimi Inari may not get you turned away, but it will shape how you're perceived. Dressing appropriately isn't just about respecting the people around you — it's also about respecting the sacred spaces themselves. In general, it's best to keep a quiet and calibrated presence in a temple or shrine. In practice, this means keeping your shirt on, avoiding ultra-short shorts or sheer tops, and skipping anything that reads as aggressively beach-coded. Just use your judgment and be respectful. And one final note — socks. If you visit temples with interior tatami flooring (think: Ginkakuji, Tofukuji, or any temple where you remove your shoes), your socks effectively become your shoes. It's often more practical to wear shoes that require socks instead of sandals, especially if your day includes multiple temple stops. Bottom Line Bottom line: Wear whatever you like. Japan isn't a fashion police state — far from it. 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04-06-2025
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New Studio Ghibli Uniqlo T-shirt line coming to the U.S., Japan left out once again【Photos】
Eight Ghibli anime movies inspire new collection of tees and sweatshirts. Uniqlo has announced some pretty big-name collaborations with the anime/manga world this summer, including new partnerships with Pokémon and Ai Yazawa. But the casual clothing chain isn't done adding anime flare to fans' wardrobes yet, as they've now announced a brand-new line of Studio Ghibli apparel. However, as has become oddly the norm for Uniqlo Ghibli collections, once again these items won't be offered in Japan. Instead, they appear to be exclusive (at least for now) to Uniqlo U.S.A. As with the previous Uniqlo Ghibli items, these designs were created by Thai artist Kanyada Phatan, who contributes photography and poetry to Neppu, a monthly magazine published by Studio Ghibli. The new collection consists of both short-sleeved T-shirts and long-sleeved sweatshirts, featuring characters from eight Ghibli anime films, including, of course, My Neighbor Totoro, with the Catbus hanging out near the nape of your neck on this shirt. While some of the designs take their illustrations directly from their source anime, others are original creations, like on the Totoro sweatshirt, which has some Soot Sprites congregating near the left cuff. The Howl's Moving Castle design uses pretty much the entire front of the shirt as a canvas for the titular mobile architecture… …and there's no missing No Face, blazingly emblazoned in triplicate across the front of the Spirited Away sweatshirt, which also bears the film's Japanese title, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. ▼ This time there's a Radish Spirit hanging out on the sleeve. Some of the designs are double-sided, with graphics on both the front and back, like with the Princess Mononoke sweatshirt. Set in a forest green field on the front is monster princess San, accompanied with raised text of the film's promotional poster tagline in Japan, 'Ikiro' ('Live' or 'Survive'). San appears on the back as well, underneath Ashitaka, with the movie's Japanese-text title, Mononoke-hime, overlapping them. There's more princess-related attire with the The Tale of the Princess Kaguya T-shirt… …and another Ghibli anime that doesn't get a lot of merchandising attention, Pom Poko, is here too. Along with the movie's Japanese title and the kanji character for tanuki (狸), the text on the back identifies the wearer as a member of the human-observing tanuki research team, while the front graphic is, as far as our analysis can tell, the first-ever depiction of testicles on a Uniqlo T-shirt. ▼ Though these are culturally relevant testicles. A less ballsy option is this Kiki's Delivery Service sweatshirt, which is both dual-sided and bilingual. Rounding out the single-movie designs, The Boy and the Heron gets two pieces, a T-shirt with the Gray Heron unnervingly saying 'My Dear' on the front while the back reminds you of who made the movie as the scene-stealing Warawara remind you of just how adorable the little marshmallow-like creatures are. The sweatshirt flips their positions around, with the Warawara on the front and the Gray Heron on the back. And finally, rounding out the adult-sized collection is an overarching Studio Ghibli T-shirt, with illustrations of Porco Rosso's protagonist, Nausicaa, Ponyo, Castle in the Sky's Dola, and The Wind Rise's Ka-14 aircraft, which would eventually evolve into the Imperial Japanese Navy's World War II Zero fighter plane. The T-shirts are all priced at US$24.90, and the sweatshirts at US$39.90. The entire collection will be available on July 10 at Uniqlo stores in the U.S. and through the chain's U.S. online shop here. Source: Uniqlo via Yahoo! Japan News via Game Watch Top image: Uniqlo Insert images: Uniqlo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
