The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Living and Culture has warned you against “catching an umbrella.” During the rainy season, more people use long umbrellas, which are larger than folding umbrellas. The problem is when you enter the room. The “catch” — which places the umbrella horizontally on the side — has become controversial. Because the umbrella is at the back, it is easy to cause harm to others in crowded places.
Tokyo’s Bureau of Living and Culture even conducts a survey with this umbrella. In a survey of 2,000 people in their 20s and 60s in March, several cases and experiences were reported that “I almost got stabbed in the eye by the tip of an umbrella in front of me at the escalator,” “The tip of the umbrella in front of me was stabbed in the stomach when I climbed the stairs,” and “My umbrella hit the person behind me when I climbed the stairs.” When asked about the place where such damage occurred, 71.1% said it was a subway station. Even if they bumped into each other, 87.3% said they just passed without giving any warning. 34.0% said they had experienced holding up an umbrella horizontally or obliquely. However, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government claims that people holding umbrellas horizontally are three times more likely to harm others than those who hold the umbrella handle. In particular, when you hold an umbrella horizontally, the tip of the umbrella comes at the height of the face of a child or wheelchair user walking on the street. If an umbrella pokes your eyes at all, it leads to serious injuries, so even ophthalmologists are showing up to explain the manners of holding umbrellas.
In Tokyo, we conducted an experiment using this method of holding an umbrella. In order to measure the impact when holding the umbrella horizontally, we fixed the umbrella to the pendulum and hit the object at a 45-degree angle to measure the impact as if we were swinging an arm while walking. The result was that the impact was up to 240 kg, equivalent to a piano. Considering that this weight is concentrated at the end of the umbrella, it concludes that it is dangerous enough.
You might be wondering what kind of fuss you’re making with just one umbrella during the rainy season, but this issue has become a hot topic in Japan X, with “an account that hates people holding up the umbrella next to them.” It is said that it is best to hold the handle of an umbrella and hold the tip of the umbrella facing the ground. Let’s make a safe way to get to and from the subway with our umbrella manners.
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
