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The article hits on this, suggesting that they are viewed as communal property since they're so abundant, cheap and frequently forgotten. Umbrellas are also an
by Reedx 7y ago
The article hits on this, suggesting that they are viewed as communal property since they're so abundant, cheap and frequently forgotten. Umbrellas are also an on demand item, so can see how this could evolve as a sort of community solution to the rain problem.
- yboris 7y agoI visited Japan and was caught in the rain with no umbrella. I hid next to an awning near a school. A person came out from inside and offered me to take an umbrella from the numerous ones that were left by the people inside. I suspect "communal property" is a better way to think of what happens with umbrellas than "umbrella thieves".
- ultrasaurus 7y agoI was in Japan last week and I can confirm that I forgot every umbrella I used -- I hope you got one of mine.
- darkerside 7y agoMy family of 5 was caught walking back to our AirBNB in pouring rain during a trip to Tokyo. A man ran out of a FamilyMart (think 7-11), chased us down, and handed us umbrellas for the entire family. My first thought was, how nice of this gentleman to do this for complete strangers. My second thought, how cheap am I for not walking my family in the store to buy the damn umbrellas myself?!
- irrational 7y agoWhat is the rain problem? I live in the Pacific Northwest where it rains for 9 months out of the year. Our solution is to not use umbrellas at all. Everyone has a waterproof rain jacket.
- catalogia 7y agoIn Seattle where it rains frequently but lightly, you really don't need an umbrella. But in places where it rains hard, umbrellas become a lot more desirable. A waterproof rain jacket won't help much in a torrential downpour. Maybe with a waterproof wide-brimmed hat as well, but chances are you'll still get drenched without an umbrella. To put some numbers on it for perspective: Seattle is infamous for rain, but only averages 38 inches of rain per year. Miami, which is known for sunny beaches, averages 62 inches of rain per year. Tokyo gets 60 inches.
- kenhwang 7y agoPlus, the raincoat doesn't mesh well fashion-wise with the suits everyone wears to work and uniforms for school. People dress very well in Japan.
- magduf 7y ago>To put some numbers on it for perspective: Seattle is infamous for rain, but only averages 38 inches of rain per year. I wonder if it has to do with duration vs. intensity. Long periods of drizzle might not be nearly as much total rainfall as short periods of downpour. From what I've seen of the PNW on my few trips there, it seems to drizzle a lot.
- catalogia 7y agoYes, that's precisely the case. Seattle is perceived as very rainy because it's very often rainy. But rarely does it rain hard. Usually it drizzles so light it won't even mess up your hair.
- hocuspocus 7y agoIn Japan and many other parts of East Asia, it rains most during the hottest months of summer. You don't wear jackets when it's 30+ °C and humid outside. But after living in the region for many years, I agree people also tend to be a bit irrationally afraid of the rain.
- hutzlibu 7y agoAh, but I suppose there are areas with bigger fears of rain. I was hitchhiking through spain and someone who picked me up was a wine farmer, who told stories of people not coming to work, because that day it was raining - in a different village.
- technotony 7y agoI've had people cancel meetings with me in San Francisco 'because it was raining'. To be fair the roads here do become significantly more stressful then, but whenever it happens it feels ridiculous. My theory is that whatever the worst 1-2% of weather days per year becomes a weather excuse anywhere in the world. In the Phillipines it had to be bad typhoon, not just a normal one. In London it was moderate snowfall (that wouldn't cause a dent in switzerland for instance).
- vidarh 7y agoI remember my first visit to California. We were in Santa Cruz for work, and got down to the breakfast room in the hotel and the tv news talked about storms. We looked out and it was drizzling. Walked to the office and got slightly damp, and coworkers thought we were crazy.
- Fjolsvith 7y agoLived in Juneau Alaska years ago, and my first year there it rained every day except for three. Those three sunny days everyone called in sick and met down on the beach!
- darkerside 7y agoIt's funny, in Japan, nobody wears sunglasses, but _everybody_ carries an umbrella. Basically the opposite in the US.
- elSidCampeador 7y agoGenerally the months with rain are the hotter ones - wearing a rain jacket would result in you sweating buckets
- ekianjo 7y agoIn Japan blue skies is the norm though. No clouds most of the time.
- disbshdns 7y agoI find ppl who wear rain jackets smell (and look goofy)
- cosmodisk 7y agoDo they smell like rain?
- danwills 7y agoGood old 'petrichor'[1], I've never noticed it emanating from a human. I wonder if geosmin is used in any fragrance-products though, or even if specific skin flora (bacteria) might produce it? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor?wprov=sfla1
- danwills 7y agoSounds like geosmin is actually not that pleasant on its own.. I like petrichor personally but can imagine the earthy aspect on its own might not be entirely pleasant.
- disbshdns 7y agoNo, BO. Anyway a astringent acidic smell. Like lactic acid. I have a sensitive nose, and my office mate bikes into work 7 mi through hills in any type of weather. Good for him. But, if he had to wear his rain coat, he smells. Even after he showers and keeps his gear in the lockers. It’s nauseating.
- innocentoldguy 7y agoIt's too hot to wear a rain jacket in Japan. You'll get wetter from sweating than you would from jumping fully clothed into a pool.
- masklinn 7y ago> Everyone has a waterproof rain jacket. PNW rain season is winter, summer is fairly dry. Japan is the opposite, and quite a bit warmer than PNW (at least at Tokyo’s latitude). Sweating is a problem as is in summer clothes, rain jackets would be detrimental to health.
- monkeycantype 7y agothe problem? this: So I was getting my hair cut at this cheap place, no appointments, no conversation, you sit on the bench, wait your turn, each time a chair frees up they pop the next person off the queue. ( _alright deque_ ) It's raining and cold, and it's Melbourne so bunches of black wet puffer jackets are dripping off the two coat racks. person in : black puffer on the hook, person out : black puffer off the hook. Then one guy starts screaming, 'who stole my jacket? it's a north face, it's a north face.' He's flipping through the jackets throwing people's clothes on the floor, including mine so I'm a bit unhappy with him and I walk up get him to calm down. we manage to pair each jacket with it's owner, and we've got one left - a black superdry jacket, with some nice bluetooth headphones in the pocket. I'd seen the owner come and leave, I suggested he would realise and come back. He could leave his number. He's not happy with this, so I sugest he take the superdry jacket to stay warm and dry, leave his number, and if the guy comes back they can arrange to swap back. At this point the screamer starts screaming that superdryguy obviously stole his jacket because north face is better, and he's going to take the superdry jacket and the headphones as 'compensation'. Screams some random abuse about the absent guy as he launches back out into the street (no number left). Two minutes later the superdryguy is back - wearing a north face jacket, the scene basically repeats with a new idiot screaming, this time that he is going to sue and something about rare headphones. I don't think this happens in Japan. Must be the umbrellas.
- lovemenot 7y agoA beat-up genic mamachari bicycle sometimes fits this pattern. Left unsecured near a station, it might get "borrowed" by a drunken salaryman and discarded somewhere near his home a kilometre away.