TOKYO, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japanese officials have recently urged men to break local gender stereotypes and carry umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun as the heat wave continues to scorch the country.
Provincial officials of Saitama prefecture launched a campaign Wednesday encouraging men to carry parasols -- light umbrellas often used as a fashion accessory by Japanese women to shield themselves from the sun -- in the midst of the deadly national heat wave.
"I used to think a parasol was strictly for women. I didn't think of using it because no men did," Saitama prefecture official Ryoji Kurihara told AFP.
"I realized using a parasol is like carrying the shade with me. I feel much cooler under it," he said.
However, not all men were willing to join the campaign, as some of them concerned more about being characterized as a "higasa danshi" (parasol man), than surviving the stifling heat.
"I wouldn't use it. It's feminine ... I wear a hat or use sunblock," 23-year-old student Shige Kato told AFP.
The campaign came after the temperature in Kumagaya, a city in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo, hit a record high of 41.1 degrees Celsius last week, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
High temperatures across the country have killed 125 people and sent 57,534 to hospitals over the three months through July 29, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday.
According to the JMA, the extreme heat is expected to continue through early August.
