Oversized umbrellas can prove an annoyance for people trying to walk by, but that physical hindrance is now being promoted to save lives.

Umbrellas have become the latest health protocol pushed in Japan to ensure social distancing and help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Advertisement banners with such statements as, “Let’s keep a safe distance from each other using a sun umbrella!” have popped up at several department stores and home centers nationwide.

A 38-year-old shopper in Tokyo decided to buy one with a 1-meter diameter in late June. She used to carry a smaller portable sun umbrella, but the pandemic forced her to think big.

“I came looking for a large and well-built umbrella so that I can take off my mask without hesitation,” she said.

The scorching summer heat is approaching, and health officials who have advocated mask-wearing as an anti-virus measure are now worried about its “side effect”—an increased risk of heatstroke.

The health ministry has issued guidelines that encourage people to remove their masks in outdoor locations where they can keep a distance of 2 meters or more from each other to protect themselves from heat-related illnesses.

Umbrellas that can be used in both rain and shine with a radius of 60 centimeters or longer have ranked high in sales at Tokyu Hands, a popular chain home center, this year.

“It seems more people are looking for a sense of security and freedom,” Hiroki Sato, the chain store’s buyer, said about what is driving the umbrella sales.

REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL-COMMUTING

In cities with notoriously high summer temperatures, such as Kumagaya in Saitama Prefecture and Toyota in Aichi Prefecture, elementary students have been urged to take off their masks to avoid heat sickness and instead carry an open umbrella to and from school.

But this has created some new problems.

“Kids come abreast of each other and block the street,” one person complained.

“Another thing that my child has to carry to school?” a parent lamented.

These complaints, however, seem trivial compared with developing a potentially fatal respiratory disease.

A woman in Tokyo said, “A new rule has spread that says people should take off their masks while putting up an umbrella.”

She said she ensures her second-year elementary child always carries one.

“Children can’t make a judgment by themselves,” the mother said. “I want each school to promote the new rule.”

AFRAID OF ‘MASK TAN LINES’

Skin-conscious men now have another reason to buy sun umbrellas, an item traditionally considered an accessory for women.

The daily mask protocol had made some men more apt to follow a facial skincare routine.

Komiya Shoten, an umbrella shop with a more than 90-year history in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district, has seen an increase of male clients looking for parasols.

Over the past few years, environment ministry and local health officials have promoted the use of sun umbrellas for men to lower the risk of heat-related illnesses.

The fashion industry has attempted to make it a new trend by coining the phrase “sun umbrella boys” for the male users.

But most men were “too embarrassed” to try the new fashion.

The tide has changed, however, according to Hiroyuki Komiya, who heads Komiya Shoten, a company that sells made-in-Japan umbrellas at around 20,000 yen ($186).

“Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, more men are worried about getting tan lines by wearing a mask,” he said. “I think these men are thinking that now is the perfect time to start carrying a sun umbrella because it is encouraged as a health protocol.”

‘BLACK SHIPS’ ALL OVER AGAIN?

Umbrella-sharing services have become popular among commuters who have stopped using public transportation and are instead walking to work to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections.

Users of an app-based service called “ikasa,” operated by Nature Innovation Group can rent an umbrella at 70 yen for 24 hours at train stations and commercial facilities.

The operator has made hand sanitizers available for free for anyone at each rental location. The service has been hailed as friendly to the environment as well as easy on the wallet.

The company expects sales to continue rising because of the pandemic.

“An umbrella is an everyday item, and because of that, it is impacted by changes and factors in the circumstances of life, such as self-protection against viruses and consideration for the Earth,” said Shoji Marukawa, who heads the company.

Masahiro Tanaka, a member of the Japan Umbrella Promotion Association, noted that umbrellas have played a symbolic and influential role throughout Japan’s modern history.

The use of umbrellas is believed to have spread in Japan after the arrival of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry’s “black ships” in the mid-19th century, which eventually ended Japan’s 200-year seclusion.

Before the event, only straw hats, straw raincoats and Japanese-style umbrellas made of bamboo and paper were available to keep out the rain.

Western-style umbrellas made of metal and fabrics brought by American soldiers were “seen as something filled with the charms of Western advanced culture,” Tanaka said.

After World War II, folding umbrellas and plastic umbrellas flooded the Japanese market. Once a coveted cultural symbol, umbrellas have gradually turned into an everyday item.

“An umbrella has been essential, like air, for the Japanese. Under the pandemic and social distancing measures, it has garnered renewed attention, and people are starting to think about ‘what an umbrella means to me,’” Tanaka said.