The fan jacket: the Japanese innovation keeping workers cool in extreme heat

Toru Ichigaya, a Kuchofuku employee, demonstrates an air-conditioned jacket which has cooling fans on its back at the Heat Solutions exhibition in Tokyo in 2015. Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

The de rigueur jacket in Japan for this year’s summer season is a functional little number with twin electric fans installed around the lower back. As rising temperatures have made the traditionally hot and sticky Japanese summer months more severe, those toiling outside in particular are turning to the fan-jakketo to make their workdays cooler and safer.

Blowing air around the inside of the jackets, the fans create a personal micro-environment with a gentle breeze to keep wearers cool when the heat and humidity are at their most punishing.