Why is the most common umbrella, but the most popular?

Recently, many cities are raining, and the rain in the south has been stretching, stretching; the rain in the north is more imposing, the wind is sparse, and the coolness spreads.

It is annoying that there is no regular rain. What is even more annoying is, "It does not rain when it is not raining, but you do n’t bring an umbrella when it rains." Forced by helplessness, many people can only start with nearby convenience stores. Although there are already a bunch of idle at home; or find a "shared umbrella" everywhere, many times they have been borrowed.

This situation is more common in Japan. Japan's rainfall is abundant, and one -third of the year is raining, so the sales of umbrellas in Japan are very large.

Earlier this month, Japanese professional meteorological service company Weathernews announced a small survey, which showed that Japan has 4.2 per capita umbrellas (the number of umbrellas per capita in the world is 2.4). From the perspective of Dao Dao County, Nara County (5.6) ranked first, followed by Kanagawa Prefecture (5), Tokyo Capital (4.9), Osaka Prefecture (4.8), large cities and surroundings around them. The ranking of the prefecture counties is high.

What's more interesting is that among the umbrellas held by people, the most transparent umbrellas are 1.6 nationally. This set of data certified that the Japanese had a soft spot for the transparent umbrella.

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The birth of a transparent umbrella

Japanese umbrella culture originates in China. Regarding the cause of the umbrella, the wide and text records are the widespread and written records of the wife of Lu Ban during the Spring and Autumn Period. In order to go out, the husband who works is not wet by the rain. This is the earliest umbrella.

"Umbrella Source" records that most of the ancient umbrellas were made of silk, and paper umbrellas appeared after paper invention. After the Han Dynasty, people used cheap tung oil to brush on paper to make waterproof oil umbrellas.

In the Tang Dynasty, the umbrella was transmitted to Japan and North Korea, so Japan called the "Tang umbrella" in the early days. Oil paper umbrellas need to be selected by bamboo, umbrella rack, umbrella surface, drawing patterns, and oil. The steps are cumbersome. As a result, in that period of unusually technology, ordinary people used umbrellas. The disadvantage of this umbrella is that it will fade when it rains, leaving stains on kimono.

In order to solve this problem, a man named Sudo was inspired by the plastic tablecloth used by the US military in Japan. "What if I use waterproof plastic cloth to cover umbrellas?"

The family of Sugo has been a traditional rain -making business for generations. Since 1721, it has operated an umbrella wholesale shop "Takeda Takaro Store", which is now the predecessor of white rose White Rose. The company had reached the ninth generation when he arrived at him. At this time, the market had been occupied by larger manufacturers, and family companies gradually declined.

In order to save the business at home, the three men of Sugo designed plastic umbrellas in 1953, mainly wrapped outside the umbrella to solve the problem of discoloration. These plastic umbrellas helped the family business of Sugo to return to life. However, in the late 1950s, with the emergence of nylon and waterproof umbrellas, the umbrella has no problem of color loss, and the umbrella cover has become extra components, and the sales volume has also plummeted.

There is only one way to reconstruct the market, which is innovation. If the plastic umbrella cover has been eliminated, what will happen to the umbrella directly with plastic? So in 1955, the Sanusanan invented the world's first plastic umbrella. Although it is not completely transparent, but milky white, it looks more crystal clear than any umbrella in the past, and it can always attract the attention of others as soon as possible.

Although the product was made, the imagination of the turnaround did not come. Due to the cheap price of plastic umbrellas, the wholesale store that sells ordinary fabric umbrellas regards plastic umbrellas as competitors and does not want to sell them in the store. After being co -suppressed by other manufacturers, Sugo's plastic umbrella was slow -moving and full of warehouses. In the end, he was looking for a family of small shops on the street to barely operate.

When Sugo was still scorched for his own business, Japan ushered in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. Good brands and designs will eventually move more people. At that time, people from all over the world flew to Tokyo, and one of the American companies fancy this unique plastic umbrella. When this transparent umbrella started to sell well in the United States, the situation was very different. With the reports of major domestic media in Japan, the transparent umbrella suddenly became a popular vane.

By the late 1960s, the transparent umbrella had been popularized to Japan. A TV report even said, "Everyone in Ginza has a transparent umbrella."

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Those reasons to fall in love with transparent umbrellas

In principle, a low cost and transparent umbrella everywhere can not occupy most of the market share in a country for a long time. After all, on the design and production of umbrellas, brands in many countries are not bad. For example, Britain is known for its hand -made top umbrellas.

But in Japan, the transparent umbrella seems to be the belief of the Japanese umbrella culture. what is the reason?

Weathernews also thought about this problem when doing investigation. And when asking for the reason and use of the person who holds one person who holds the above plastic umbrella, most of the answers get the answer are "because they are bought because they are raining", "for the sake of lending to the guests", "because they are transparent Use plastic umbrella ".

In this rainy country in Japan, the umbrella is very frequent, but at the same time, the probability of losing the umbrella is also very high. It is said that the average Japanese women have to lose 3 per person, while the average men must lose 6 umbrellas. Therefore, in the face of the sudden rainy weather, many people can only find a nearby convenience store or automatic vending machine to buy an umbrella for emergency. At this time, the cheap transparent umbrella became the best choice, about 300-500 yen (about RMB 15-25). Even if it was broken, it would not hurt.

Almost everyone's umbrella is the same transparent umbrella. In order to avoid wrong, many people will spend some small marks on their own umbrellas. Or marked your own name, or doodle, or even a goodwill warning or joke, all the common umbrellas that have its own common "branding" and become unique in the world.

In addition, Japanese shopping malls and hotels also have the practice of providing umbrellas for guests at any time. These umbrellas are all sent back to the original place, so low -cost transparent umbrellas are even more popular.

So why is it a long -handle umbrella instead of a smaller and more portable folding umbrella?

If you notice those who enter the subway station in rainy days in Japan, you will find that the umbrellas in their hands are unprecedented. The Japanese pay attention to the etiquette of the occasion. After the long -handle umbrella is put away, the rain can flow directly along the umbrella to the ground, and it will not scatter it like a folding umbrella, splashing to others.

Furthermore, the design of long -handle umbrellas is always more anti -wind than folding umbrellas, strong structure, not easy to deform, and will not make the wind flip the umbrella surface as soon as it is shaved. This is obviously more suitable in Japan where typhoons prevail. Out of these convenience and practical considerations, it is not surprising that long -handle transparent umbrellas can become popular in Japan.

One thing that people who like transparent umbrellas also love it is that they will not cover their sight.

For ordinary people, this is based on safety and polite considerations. Because the transparent umbrella can see the traffic lights in front of it, and the passers -by around them can be seen in time to avoid avoiding it.

And some people who do not need to travel with their legs everyday, such as the Japanese royal family, actually love transparent umbrellas. But they are more of the weighing of political factors. Because they want to maintain the image of the people, they prefer to choose transparent umbrellas to reduce the seriousness of black umbrellas, and it is also convenient for everyone to see their expressions when interacting.

Regardless of the reason for the reason, in short, now the transparent long -handle umbrella has become the most common umbrella in the streets and convenience stores in Japan. In the words of the tenth -generation president of White Rose, "White Rose White Rose said:" Only by supporting a transparent long -handle umbrella can it be considered in Japan, which is truly integrated into the rainy season. It may be the first step in you to enter Japanese culture. "

In this rainy season, are your umbrella ready?

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