Photo/Illutration Sun umbrellas designed for men are also popular with women because of their larger size. (Nanami Watanabe)

OSAKA--As summer grows hotter every year, the market for sun umbrellas designed for men is surging rapidly to meet the increasing demand.

“Male customers are buying parasols to prevent heatstroke as well to protect their skin from sunburn,” said a public relations representative of the Takashimaya department store here. 

From March to July, sales of men’s sun umbrellas at the department store were 2.4 times higher than in the same period last year.

In a seasonal promotion period from late June to early July, the shop offered 600 types of sun umbrellas including 80 marketed specifically for men, twice as many as usual.

“As more men carry parasols on the streets, they are becoming less conspicuous, more gender-neutral and acceptable,” added the representative.

Different types of sun umbrellas are popular among different genders, according to the department store.

They say that male customers often choose umbrellas with multiple-joint structures that can fold down small enough to fit into bags. They also prefer items with dark colors such as navy blue and black.

Meanwhile, female customers apparently prefer umbrellas with simpler frame structures that are easy to open and close, even if they aren’t as compact.

Other businesses are noticing increased interest in men’s sun umbrellas as well. Aeon Co., which operates malls and supermarkets nationwide, features men’s sun umbrellas at around 280 of its outlets this year.

Some shops offer 40 types of sun umbrellas for men, 2.6 times more than last year.

Although 80 percent of the customers buying parasols at Aeon shops are women, sales of men’s sun umbrellas from March to mid-August soared to 5.5 times over sales from the same period in 2020.

The Takashimaya PR representative believed that an increasing number of men were using sun umbrellas due to skin care and cosmetic reasons.

Japan’s male cosmetics market was worth 44.6 billion yen ($306 million) in 2022, increasing 30 percent in five years, according to the research firm Intage Inc. The market for sunburn relief products also increased more than 20 percent.

“More men are conscious about their appearances partly because of the rise of online video meetings, where they see their own faces on the screen along with those of others,” said Toshimitsu Kiji, an Intage market analyst.

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