No tan!

Not only are there products in Japan to make you appear more white, there are multiple products in order to keep you from getting tan. The reason that Japanese people don’t want to become tan is because of the fact that they tan easily and in the past, people who had to work outside and do hard labor would always be tan, which meant that people with white skin were the people who were wealthier. So basically, having white skin was a kind of symbol of your status. Once, I was describing a friend of mine to a Japanese friend and said that he had dark skin. My Japanese friend looked a little shocked and told me that I shouldn’t say that. I was really confused about this because I was just trying to describe my friend in the simplest means possible. It seems to be an insult to have dark skin in Asia, even though having “gold” skin is desirable in the west. As a result, there are multiple products designed to prevent you from getting tan. The first picture is of these sleeves that you can put on your arms to prevent them from getting tanned. When I first saw these I was shocked and confused. It was 90 degrees and 90% humidity yet these older ladies were walking around with these sleeves on. They must have been so hot, and yet they still considered it necessary to use the sleeves. The next products are UV umbrellas. I was also very confused the first time I saw these as well. So many people use these on sunny days in Japan. These umbrellas are used to keep the suns UV rays from hitting you and tanning your skin. Being from Seattle, where we don’t even use umbrellas when it’s raining, I was intrigued that umbrellas were used here on sunny days as well. All of these products show the importance of “whiteness” in Japan.