Overheated Japanese workers have found a new way to cool down amid soaring summer temperatures -- by wearing jackets with their own inbuilt air conditioning fans. Sales for clothes with their own personal aircon systems are soaring in Japan, as seeks ever more ingenious ways of cooling down while saving energy as the nuclear crisis rumbles on.

日本盛夏氣溫飆升，燠熱難當的工人已經找到一個新方法降溫：穿著內建空調風扇的夾克。這款附帶個人空調系統的衣服在日本銷量暴增，因為在核能危機未除之際，日本正在找尋巧妙的方式，既能節省能源又能降溫。

As jackets go it looks far from fashionable, but its Japanese maker cannot meet sky-rocketing demand for “air conditioned” coats with built-in fans. Kuchofuku Co. Ltd -- whose name literally means “air-conditioned clothing” -- has seen orders soar amid power shortages in Japan after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

就夾克來說，它看來一點都不時尚，但由於內置風扇的「空調」夾克市場需求破表，日本製造商忙得供不應求。這家就取名「空調服公司」的成衣廠，在日本311毀滅性地震和海嘯後因電力短缺而訂單劇增。

“I work in a very hot place and have to wear long sleeved outfits, so I came over to buy this to stay cool and to prevent heat stroke,” said Ryo Igarashi, 33, as he left the Kuchofuku office after buying an air-conditioned jacket. Igarashi said the clothing offers him relief at hot construction sites where he, coincidentally, installs air conditioners in buildings.

33歲的五十嵐亮說：「我工作的地方很熱，又規定要穿長袖上衣，所以我才來買這款夾克，既可保持涼快，又可防止中暑。」他買了一件空調夾克後正準備離開空調服公司。五十嵐表示這款夾克使他在悶熱的建築工地工作時可以涼快點，巧的是他的工作就是在工地安裝冷氣。

Among its other products, the company also sells air-conditioned cushions and mattresses that use Kuchofuku's patented plastic mesh system that allows air to circulate while supporting weight. The products have taken on extra significance since the closure of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and a government decree obliging big companies in the Tokyo and Tohoku northern region to reduce power usage by 15 percent to avoid blackouts.

該公司產銷的其他產品，還包括冰涼坐墊和床墊，這些產品都使用空調服公司取得專利的塑料網系統，既可支撐重量，又可保持空氣流通。自從海嘯重創福島日本第一核電廠迫使它關閉，政府下令東京和東北北部災區的大企業減少用電量15%以免停電後，這些產品格外有意義。

Initiatives such as “Super Cool Biz” encourage employees to ditch jackets and ties and turn down air conditioning. Imports of electrical fans through Tokyo port hit a record high in May, jumping 70 percent from a year earlier to 1.24 million units, according to the customs office.

政府倡議的「超級涼爽商務」行動，鼓勵員工脫掉夾克和領帶並調低冷氣溫度。據海關辦公室指出，通過東京港海關的進口電風扇5月創下歷史新高，比去年同期躍增70％達124萬台。

The fans in the Kuchofuku jacket are connected to a lithium-ion battery pack that lasts for 11 hours on a single charge, consuming only a fraction of the power used by conventional air-conditioning, said company president Hiroshi Ichigaya.

空調服公司社長市谷弘司指出，空調服夾克的風扇連接鋰離子電池組，充電一次可持續運轉11小時，所消耗的電力只有傳統空調的一小部分。

Ichigaya says that his clothing offers a counter-intuitive solution: that by wearing more, a person can feel cooler than if baring it all. “People are now trying to wear as little as possible in such campaigns as Super Cool Biz, but wearing more Kuchofuku makes you feel much cooler,” he said.

市谷指出，他設計的服裝提供一個逆向思考的解決方案，也就是藉著穿更多衣服，一個人反而比全身赤裸裸時還涼爽。他說：「在『超級涼爽商務』這類行動中，大多數人現在想盡可能少穿點衣服，但其實多穿空調服會讓你覺得更涼快。」

Up to 20 liters per second of air circulates throughout the jacket and escapes through the collar and cuffs, drying off sweat and cooling down the wearer. The idea of "personal air-conditioning" struck Ichigaya -- a Sony engineer for two decades until the early 1990s -- when he was trying to invent an air conditioner that would use little electricity. “It came to me that we don't need to cool the entire room, just as long as people in it feel cool,” he said.

每秒高達20公升的空氣會在整件夾克中流通，並從領口和袖口排出，在排除汗水之際也幫穿衣者降溫。在1990年代初之前，市谷弘司曾當索尼工程師20年，當他試圖發明一種可以盡量省電的空調系統時，忽然想到「個人空調」這個構想：「我忽然想到，我們不用冷卻整個房間，只要個人感覺涼爽就行了。」

Kuchofuku, first launched in 2004, typically draws demand from factories and construction sites but the company has recently seen orders come in from office workers and housewives. A standard air-conditioned jacket sells for around 11,000 yen ($140), with others priced higher.

空調服最早在2004年推出，主要客戶是工廠和建築工地，但該公司最近發現，上班族和家庭主婦也來訂購。一件基本款空調夾克售價約1.1萬日圓（約台幣4058元），其他款式價格更高。

A central government official recently approached the company to buy half-a-million jackets, but Ichigaya had to turn the order down because the company was unable to boost production in time to meet demand. The company will sell a total of 40,000 jackets, cushions and other air-cooled products this year, double last year's figure, Ichigaya said, adding that sales would reach 80,000 if he could manufacture enough.

中央政府一位官員最近有意向該跟公司洽購50萬件夾克，但市谷不得不拒絕，因為該公司無法提高產量，及時滿足客戶需求。他補充說，該公司今年總共將出售4萬件夾克、靠墊及其他風冷產品，是去年數字的兩倍，如果他能提高產能，銷售量可達8萬件。

In this photo, former Sony technician Hiroshi Ichigaya (left), president of Japanese company Kuchofuku, and a colleague pose with a jacket that has a built-in air-conditioning system.

在這張照片中，索尼前技術人員市谷弘司（左），也就是日本空調服公司社長，正和同事展示有內建空調系統的夾克。