Job Discussion Forums

[maryknight]

how do you survive the heat? is your school air conditioned? is your apartment air conditioned? have you quit wearing clothes? i�m deciding between cold winters in north japan and, well, the humid summers.

[Brooks]

I survive.
Yes.
Yes.
No, I still wear clothes. You can`t compare Japan to Bangkok.

[Zzonkmiles]

While I can't speak for rural areas, the schools in the cities here are generally air conditioned, so that should not be a problem. It's when you step outside during the summer that you'll suffer. You can take a shower here, step outside for 5 minutes, and then feel you have to take another shower because you're already covered with sweat. Not fun.

Apartments, on the other hand, are an entirely different story. Japanese apartments are poorly insulated, so they are maddeningly hot during the summer and absolutely frigid during the winter. It can be colder in your apartment than it is outside. Seriously. Also, Japanese apartments generally do not have central air conditioning. The a/c unit is usually located in one room of the apartment, so that room will be pleasantly warm or cool, while the rest of the apartment will be unbearably hot or cold. During the winter, everyone tends to use space heaters and electric blankets.

If you are from the US Pacific Northwest, you will NOT find ANY place in Japan that has a similar climate. If the summer heat really bothers you, then Hokkaido and northern Tohoku (on Honshu) should be where you focus your efforts. (Unfortunately, the winters there are very much like those in the US Northeast or Upper Great Lakes.) The summers here are oppressively muggy and hot, much like in the US Southeast. Also remember that the parts of Japan closer to the Japan Sea coast are much more prone to heavy snowfall during the winter than the parts of Japan closer to the Pacific Ocean coast.

One last point to remember--schools and businesses in Japan tend to be quite strict with their dress codes. Even if it's blazing hot outside, many schools still require their male teachers to wear a suit with a jacket and their female teachers to wear a blouse. The Japanese workers here have it even tougher though, as they are almost always dressed in black. So you can only imagine how they feel between the months of May and September when it is so terribly hot here.

[bornslippy1981]

This past summer I was in the countryside, surrounded by mountains on 3 sides, and the Sea of Japan on the other. The humidty has no place to go, so it stays in the city, and specifically my apartment.
It was only about a month that was brutal. One day I was running late to work, and after pedaling fast for 10 minutes, my shirt was nearly soaked through. The a/c was on high, so it only took about 2 hours for my shirt to dry.
Sleeping wasn't too bad. I left the balcony door, my bedroom door, and bedroom window open at night. This was in hopes of creating some circulation if there was a nice breeze off the mountains. It never happened, so the humidty was just a blanket across the city.
Around 1 AM it would get somewhat cooler, so I'd take a shower, and the last minute would have only cold water as I did my Polar Bear Club imitation. It took a little while to get used to freezing water on my body, but it was enough to fall asleep for about 6 hours before I'd wake up sweating with no covers.
You get used to it though. I wonder if Sapporo has long days of only sunlight like the Al Pacino movie, Insomnia?

[bornslippy1981]

This past summer I was in the countryside, surrounded by mountains on 3 sides, and the Sea of Japan on the other. The humidty has no place to go, so it stays in the city, and specifically my apartment.
It was only about a month that was brutal. One day I was running late to work, and after pedaling fast for 10 minutes, my shirt was nearly soaked through. The a/c was on high, so it only took about 2 hours for my shirt to dry.
Sleeping wasn't too bad. I left the balcony door, my bedroom door, and bedroom window open at night. This was in hopes of creating some circulation if there was a nice breeze off the mountains. It never happened, so the humidty was just a blanket across the city.
Around 1 AM it would get somewhat cooler, so I'd take a shower, and the last minute would have only cold water as I did my Polar Bear Club imitation. It took a little while to get used to freezing water on my body, but it was enough to fall asleep for about 6 hours before I'd wake up sweating with no covers.
You get used to it though. I wonder if Sapporo has long days of only sunlight like the Al Pacino movie, Insomnia?

[Glenski]

[gaijinalways]

[osakajojo]

it's ok now because of "COOLBIZ"!

[senshisteph]

Thank god I work in a kindergarten where the staff uniform is track pants and t-shirt!

[markle]

[earthmonkey]

Hi Mary.
I'm also from Portland. The humidity is probably going to be very difficult for you.

I deal with it by sweating profusely and complaining a lot.

I also set my classroom's airconditioner to 23 degrees celcius (I don't pay that bill).

I'd like to say you'll get used to it, but after 4 years, I haven't. I was thinking of investing in a climate controlled space suit. But, last I checked they cost about 3 million dollars, weigh 300 pounds, and are not available to the general public. Maybe next year.

[wintersweet]

In Taiwan, I developed a technique of walking next to streetfront shop doors (the automatic sliding glass kind) in order to snag that blast of cold air as I passed. Yeah, I'm shameless! I also took advantage of underground shopping arcades instead of walking on surface streets. I learned how to pin up my hair so none of it touched my neck, wore a lot of peasant-style cotton blouses, wore skirts, took feverfew daily, and carried an umbrella for shade (none of which I do here!).

I also realized that I really should have listed to my home university advisor and only rented a room which had a bedroom A/C under my control. Oops. It just didn't cool off at night there the way I expected.

Another mistake I made was too much shaved ice with mango. (This is huge in Taiwan, but I've seen it in Japan too.) Too much mango = BAD for your insides. I still don't quite buy the thing about certain foods cooling you down (spicy food in Taiwan, unagi in Japan) but it can't hurt to try.

Finally, live like the locals when it comes to always drying off well after a shower/bath, making sure your clothes are totally dry before they go in your closet/drawers, airing your bedding often, etc. Not only will you be more comfortable, you'll stave off mold and mildew and so on.

I'm still not sure how I survived--I HATE hot weather. But I figure if I survived Taiwan, I can survive Kyushu or wherever I end up in Japan.

[Synne]

-Plan out your walking routes so they hit a combini or air con building every minute.

-Also include gatoraid/pocari sweat/aquarius/amino suppliment vending machines en route.

-Complain a lot as earthmonkey said.

-Order in a Nagoya Zoo visitors fan...about 3 times larger then your average fan.

-Don't wear underwear, shirts (if you can manage it), socks, shoes, or pants/shorts (if you can manage it)

-Mail your material to the school a day ahead of time to avoid carrying it.

-If you wish to avoid doing most of this though...buy an air con car.

Enjoy! ^_^

[alexrocks]

First I shower at home before leaving for work.

I wear a cotton undershirt under my work shirt on my way to the school, and then go to the bathroom and change into a clean one which I carry in my bag.

(Put the sweaty one into a plastic bag and tie it up so it doesn't make the other contents stinky.)

Then when I get home I shower again.

[maryknight]

wow, i already decided to move to northern japan and i'm still getting more advice on how to handle the hot! kinda fun reading, though.