JAPAN BIZ: Japan businesses look to upgraded, innovative cooling items to beat summer

TOKYO - With another hot summer expected this year in Japan, products to help consumers cope with the scorching weather are evolving, ranging from upgraded versions of staple items such as parasols to drink bottles outfitted with misting functions.

At a Hands Inc. retail store in the Shinjuku area in central Tokyo, parasols developed in collaboration with Toray Industries Inc. are part of a vast collection on display in a section selling products to counter the heat, including handheld fans.