The Return of Rainy Season

We've been getting away with some really mild weather this rainy season. Right at the beginning there were a bunch of rainy days but then it was sunny and warm but not too hot, but today the rain is back. Raku and I have staked out the only covered seats on the terrace at Starbucks in Azabu Juban and are enjoying our work while we listen to the thunder and watch the rain drip down on all the other tables around us.

In preparation for all the heat and humidity I cut my hair even shorter, and Miyuki at Shinka did a really wonderful job this time. Speaking of coping with the weather, Raku also showed me a Japanese moisturizer that is perfect for rainy season and summer. I never would have bought it in a million years if she hadn't told me what it was because Biore "Watery Mousse Water Base" doesn't make any sense or sound the least bit appealing. But it's actually a very nice water based moisturizer that doesn't feel heavy or sticky the way the Khiel's I like to use in the winter does around this time of year. The finish is dry and powdery which is such a relief in this weather and as a bonus it's SPF 50. I've been using it for over a week now and haven't had any breakouts from it so I'd definitely recommend it as a great Japanese summer skincare product.

Rainy Writing Terrace

Summer Haircut

Biore Watery Mousse Water Base Moisturizer.  Use it!

How to Clean a Japanese Shower Room

I decided to write a follow-up to my humidity post after Raku and a I spent a long time searching through the cleaning section of our favorite drug store.  We've got all kinds of good stuff now, and the mildew doesn't stand a chance.

I've been here nearly a year now and I'm still discovering new products, or finally figuring out what they do, so I thought it might be useful to write about what I've found.

The most important new word I've learned is カビ, which means mildew.  So if you're looking for bathroom cleaner, カビキラー  (Kabi Killer) is the good stuff, it definitely had bleach in it.  In my experience the more red you see on the packaging the stronger it is.

Scrubbing Bubbles with カビキラー

Once you find a cleaning product you like, you can just buy refill bags rather than buying a whole new container each time.  When it is time to refill, make sure you're actually buying the same product!  Part of my problem was that I had refilled with something else, that clearly didn't have bleach in it.  When I dumped it out it was bright green and smelled like apples.  The new matching refill was a clear liquid that smelled a little minty.  Oops.

These are chlorine bleach tablets meant to go down drains.  They fizz and dissolve sort of like alka-seltzer.  I don't really know if they do all that much, but I've been using them down the shower drain about once a week.  Side note, the shower drains here are wide enough to put your hand down and filled with standing water.  They're normally covered by a plastic hair-catcher that snaps into place, and on top of that a removable metal grate.

This is a product to clean bathtubs, and even cleans out the jets, since the water doesn't just come out of a spout.  The directions say to fill your bathtub at least 5 cm above the jets with lukewarm water, dump in the powder, and set the temperature to 40° c.  Let the temperature rise for 10-15 minutes, then add 5 cm of cool water.  Set the temperature to 40° c again and allow the temperature to rise for 5 minutes, then drain.  I assume the temperature changes are to keep the water circulating in order to fully clean the jets.  It recommends submerging any bath stools, bowls, or soap dishes in the tub so that they can be disinfected at the same time.

And finally, this is a カビキラー pen to target small problem areas.  

Coping With Summer Heat and Humidity in Japan

It's been so hot and humid lately!  I've put my weather app in celsius to teach myself the metric system and for the most part it's working, but some days I still have to convert it before I can decide what to wear.  For the past week it's been in the 90's, but the heat index got up to 115 on Saturday and Sunday.  I miss central air constantly, but I think that's actually only a small part of why the heat bothers me more here.  Not having a car, I spend a lot more time outdoors walking (and let me tell you, dragging home heavy bags of groceries when I'm dripping sweat is my new least favorite activity).  Trains are better, but especially when they're crowded it's hard to keep them cool, and though underground platforms are cooler, the outdoor ones can be pretty bad.  Coming from the south-eastern US I think I'm also just used to a much higher level of air conditioning.

Luckily, Japan actually has a lot of useful coping mechanisms for dealing with the heat and humidity.  My favorite discovery (thank you Raku) would be powder sheets, or shower sheets.  These are essentially wet wipes with rubbing alcohol and baby powder in them, that make you instantly feel clean, cool, and dry.  They come in a million different versions with different scents and additions like deodorant, antiperspirant, or menthol for a tingly cool feeling.   There is nothing so refreshing when you've walked a long way and feel gross but want to look and feel presentable.  My favorite are the soap scented Biore powder sheets in the pink package.

Besides powder sheets a lot of people carry a small sweat towel, essentially a wash cloth, around with them to mop up all the sweat.  I'm not as big a fan of this method, though they're also useful for drying your hands in public restrooms.  It might seem strange, but there are many cute sweat towels and I frequently see women using them.

I got a free one with some cranberry juice

Lots of women here use parasols.  At first I thought they were just trying to keep their skin as pale as possible (and that's probably still a big part of their motivation), but wouldn't you rather walk around in your personal spot of shade rather than in scorching direct sunlight?  Look for the cloth umbrellas that mention UV protection (and don't make the mistake of using them in the rain - unless yours does double duty).

Even just having a fan can be a huge help.  They're so small and light it's no problem to slip one in a purse.

This was a gift from Ellie's exchange student

But if you don't carry a purse, or you happen to forget your fan, don't worry - lots of businesses hand out plastic fans as advertisements.

Humidity can also be a major problem.  Since we only run the air conditioning when we're in a specific room the humidity levels soar in the apartment when we're out.  John noticed that his shirts were starting to smell a little musty, so I started looking for a solution.  Turns out, you can buy little sheets of desiccant packets meant for closets, drawers, and even to put under futon mattresses.  I got these at a 100 yen store.

Besides fighting dampness in our drawers I've been waging a war with mildew growing around the sink and bathtub drains from the higher temperatures and humidity indoors.  Sadly the only solution for that seems to be more scrubbing. 

Beating Rainy Season

Rainy season is back.  The skies are grey, the humidity is out of control and it's been raining off and on.  Luckily, I have a new weapon to combat the rain.  The world's cutest rain shoes!  I loved them so much I went ahead and bought two pairs.

Amazing!

I had been thinking that I wanted some rain boots, but with all the heat and humidity they just seemed like they would be too hot and uncomfortable.  These are perfect, looking fun and stylish but totally functional and waterproof.

Free Fish, a Japanese brand that opened in 2009 makes them.  They're completely made out of rubber except for the little embellishments.  A great way to perk up a rainy day.

Recent Purchases That Make Life Better

Over the past couple weeks John and I have been buying all the things we need to fully furnish our apartment, but I've also made some smaller purchases of things that just make daily life better.

I've never really cared for slippers much, I was more of a barefoot girl, but I suppose I mostly grew up with carpet and didn't have to experience ice cold floors.  I got these at Muji during the holiday sales.

I particularly love how these look like flats.

Speaking of Muji, I got some of their bath salts and sugars for Christmas.  It seems that the salts are a finer grain and a little more powdery, while the bath sugars seem to be larger crystals (I don't think they're really sugar) and a slightly stickier texture like there are more essential oils in them.  I really like both!

We also recently purchased a humidifier.  I had only ever been here in the summer when it's terribly humid, so I was very surprised to discover how cold and dry it becomes in the winter.  It seems that running the heat further dries out the already dry air, so we bought a hygrometer to keep track of the humidity level (and it turns out John like his humidity to resemble a summer day in Durham).

We chose the Middle Colors brand humidifier, partly because it's sold everywhere, and also because it was pretty cute.  It's ultrasonic so it doesn't have to heat the water, and it doesn't seem to have a problem with making dust.  It has very discrete controls, and works really nicely.  It also has an essential oils diffuser.

And finally, at the the grocery store I made the best cleaning discovery!  Our sink has a little mesh basket that catches food particles.  But then it is really gross and difficult to scrape everything out of the mesh.  Ugh!

While looking for trash bags one day, I came across these little bags that are net filters for sink baskets.

They look like teensy hair nets, and are stretchy, so they will fit a number of different sizes and shapes.

Ta-da! Now, I can just throw away these little bags instead of scraping grossness out with a spoon.  It's so cool, it almost keeps me from being disgusted when I change them.