Whenever my female teachers head outside to do something with the kids, Sport’s Day Practice, Bike Safety Day, whatever, they prepare themselves. They all put on long sleeves, they put on hats with gigantic rims, and some even wear gloves. Now, I ask you, what season do you think this is during? Fall you say? Winter? Oh no, my friends. This is in the heat of the summer (although, I guess anything you said would be right, because if the sun is out they are bundled up, year round).
They are not fighting the chill. They are hiding from the sun. And they all do it. I have also noticed women driving with arm guards and gloves on to fight the sun while in their cars. At first I thought this was because of some hyper awareness of the dangers of skin cancer. But then I remembered that a large portion of this country smokes like chimneys, so that seemed less likely. And also, it is mostly just the women. I don’t see men going to nearly as many precautions to hide from the sun.
It turns out that here in Japan, no one wants to be tanned. This makes sense if you think back about the history of the country. When there were still nobles, most of them never went outside. They likely had rather fair skin. If you were very tan you clearly worked outside in a lower class job, like farming. And, as I believe is often the case, those who had money and power often set the view of what was considered beautiful and desirable in their women. Fair skinned women were prized. Look at the geisha and maiko who paint their faces white, bringing that pale beauty to an extreme. It gives a sort of untouched air to their beauty, untouched by the sun and untouched by blemish.
And so, this view has persisted at least in some degree. Women do not want to tan. They want to remain fair so as to remain attractive. I’m sure the damage that UV rays do cause is also a factor, but it also seems to be a convenient way to dress up this cultural view of beauty to make it even more necessary. Protect your skin and remain beautiful.
But there are also some people who still see it as a class thing as well. They don’t want to tan because they don’t want to be confused with someone who works outside all the time. They work inside and are thus a high class and want to maintain the appropriate appearance.
Part of the reason this never really transferred over to men is because your soldiers and warriors were outside too. If the samurai were out in battle they were going to tan as well, so for men it was just a standard thing. And perhaps that’s why my male teachers don’t seem to go to the same extreme when preparing for an outside activity. It reminds me of how women in America often diet, but you rarely hear of guys dieting, unless it’s for health reasons.
To further confuse you, I have seen women on the beach in bathing suits carrying parasols so that they can try to minimize their tanning. I rarely see people just lying out on the beach, working on their tan. And I have never, ever seen an artificial tanner or tanning beds advertised.
