How to stay cool in Japan this summer? With a mist-spraying Fanbrella

http://bit.ly/2EK532O Oona McGee

Push the parasol into a drink bottle and you’ll enjoy a coastal breeze all day long.

If you’ve been to Japan during summer, you’ll know how uncomfortably hot it can get, with temperatures often in the high 30s (around 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity reaching stifling levels above 80 percent, making it hotter than summer in Death Valley.

So it’s understandable when people say they like to hibernate indoors under the air conditioning when the heat arrives. However, there are times when leaving the coolness of our lairs becomes unavoidable, and for those occasions, Japanese company Thanko has us covered – literally – with the new Fanbrella.

The fan-umbrella hybrid works like a new-fangled parasol, shading you from the sun’s rays while keeping you cool with a fan above your head.

While the fan can be used on its own, there’s also an option to add some cooling mist to the experience, by simply shoving the end of the handle into a plastic drink bottle.

Then all you have to do is push the button on the handle to release the cooling mist from above.

Take a look at this video below to see exactly how it works.

We have to admit, it’s a pretty neat gadget, and one we’re keen to try out this summer. We already have plenty of ideas of when and where we’ll use it too, like at high school baseball games, in the queue at Summer Comiket, and if we ever get asked to join Prime Minister Abe on the golf course.

The Fanbrella will get you five hours of fan/mist bliss on four Double A batteries, and can be used with 550-millilitre (18.5-ounce) or even two-litre bottles. Actually, any bottle with an opening of 28 millimetres (1.1 inches) in diameter is compatible, making us wonder how the Fanbrella would taste with a bottle of iced tea attached to it instead.

The Fanbrella can be purchased at the Thanko online shop for 5,980 yen (US$55.42) including tax. If you haven’t been sold on the concept, there are still plenty of other Thanko gadgets that might just catch your eye, like the atamabrella umbrella for your head.

In fact, the mayor of Tokyo just unveiled the umbrella hat concept as recommended headwear for visitors to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, so maybe the Fanbrella will become a hot commodity for the Games too. And one group of people who’ll definitely be needing it will be the thousands of volunteers, who unfortunately won’t be dressing like ninja next summer.

Source, images: Thanko
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