The summer heat has come.. and with it the seasonal rains.
With the years I somewhat got used to it, I tolerate it more now. But I had make changes to adapt.
On my first visit to Japan, I managed to somewhat get sick as I wandered around in the summer heat. For a few minutes I had difficulties breathing. The muscles of my throat started contracting as to swallow my own saliva.. something that definitely never happened to me before.
The cause I suspect it was a combination of things:
* I was 10-12 kilos overweight (fat fack !)
* I was used to California’s heat but not to the humidity levels of Tokyo.
* The big jumps in temperature from glacial cold air conditioners inside buildings and trains and the heat outside.
* The pollution inherent for such an active and tightly packed city.

I was only 28 at the time and I got a bit scared. But I realize that is only normal to feel the effects of heat if one really doesn’t do much to fight it.
Aside from another episode of shortness of breath during that period, I never felt sick again. The simplest thing one can do is to use the vending machines (which are plentiful here) to grab a bottle or water, tea or any of those Gatoradish drinks that can be found only here: Aquarius, Amino Supli, Calpis, Pocari Sweat [Wikipedia], Healthya, are the most famous. Aquarius and Pocari Sweat taste a bit like watermellon skin ! ..actually surprisingly good. Calpis is more on the sweet side, and also comes in popsicles !

Humidity implies a lot of sweating. Many men carry around a small towel to dry the sweat from the face. There are also a couple of lines of wet-napkins for men, for the face, for the body. I use those the morning when I get to work.. Although I find that they carry a bit too much menthol for my taste. Menthol gives that cold burning sensation very popoular here. It reminds me a bit of the sour-dough matter in California. I hate the stinky sour-dough bread and it seems that everyone is trying to sell that around LA !
Speaking of sour and stinky.. Japanese men’s sweat tends to be pretty sour in smell ! I actually remember some non-Japanese smelling the same here in Tokyo.. so it’s probably not simply a genetic matter. A similar smell is also produced by the black fungus that accumulates around the hole of my bathroom sink in summer.
Deodorants aren’t very popular here, and that’s a shame, because while Japanese are historically clean, you can still find quite a few smelly people ! ..I personally get my deodorants from Italy where the selection is wide.. although Italians themselves aren’t champions of good smell ! Comparatively, I find that the nicest smelling people are in California (can’t speak for the rest of USA).

Best for last, the really drastic step: body shaving ! Being quite hairy, that sure came as a big change and has continued to keep me very busy under the shower. I went on and shaved chest, legs, arms all at once, and felt the pain for days. If anyone suddenly decides to start shaving his hairy body after more than 30 years, I’d suggest to take it slowly. No need to do a perfect job all at once. The first times it may also be useful to use some sort of after-shave cream.
Now that sounds faggy.. but then again, it’s so common to shave the beard off, and that’s the most visible part of the body.. ..I guess.. well I could make more excuses !

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Posted by Davide Pasca in Diary, Japan