A metropolis was suffering on a tropical night. On August 1st, Seoul observed the highest temperature in 111 years, since the Korea Meteorological Administration started keeping records. Japan has also been having a heat wave. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the highest temperature recorded on July 23rd was 41.1˚C in the Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture. The murderous heat from global warming is sweeping Korea and Japan. How are the people of the two countries holding up in such scorching conditions? -Ed.


Korea

1. Foods to beat the heat
  The first Korean national food to beat the heat is samgyetang. Samgyetang, which is a whole chicken filled with glutinous rice, jujubes, and ginseng, is an invigorating food. Many Koreans eat it on one of the hottest days of the year. The enriched proteins and effective components of ginseng, glutinous rice and jujubes in samgyetang are well-balanced in nutrients. Therefore, eating this food restores energy.
  The second national food is patbingsu, a Korean dessert made from shaved ice and red beans. Mostly, people eat patbingsu in summer because it’s a cool dessert made with ice. As this dish is becoming more and more popular, various kinds of patbingsu are being released all the time. The various ingredients, like watermelon shaved ice, and peach shaved ice, are added onto the existing shaved ice. These new recipes are loved by consumers and are settling in as popular summer foods.

2. Products to beat the heat
  Novel products are being released as well by adding functionality that was lacking in existing products. Nowadays, the popular item to beat the heat wave in Korea is portable electric fans. Previously, you could see people beating the heat by using a folding fan, but nowadays, you can often see people carrying portable electric fans instead. In the hot summer, people feel that sitting cushions are stuffy. However, a new sitting cushion cools the body and prevents sweat due to a cooling gel. Also, cool wristlets make the arms cool, and they block ultraviolet rays and prevent sunburn. The evolving novelties to prevent heat exhaustion are a natural reaction to the sizzling summer.

3. Ways to enjoy the vacation 
  People who want to beat the heat waves often cool off inside buildings with air conditioners, which is changing the ways people enjoy the vacation. While people went to a beach or a valley to cool off in the past, people just stay inside now on vacation because of the serious heat. Therefore, you can see that some people get a good rest inside in places such as malls, hotels, and houses. Jo Hyo-yun (’18, Dept. of Veterinary Medicine) said, “It was too hot to spend my vacation outside, so I spent my vacation watching movies and reading books at home. I think it is an advantage that I can spend my vacation comfortably by turning on the air conditioner at home with delicious foods rather than going outdoors and sweating while doing things.”


Japan

1. Foods to beat the heat
  In Japan, which has a similar climate and food culture as Korea, there are days that have the same meaning as Korea’s hottest days, and they’re called doyonousinohi. On these days, people eat a summer health food made of freshwater eel called woonagidong. It is a bowl of rice topped with eel which has been eaten on a doyonousinohi  by people since the late 1800s, the Edo Period, to supplement their physical strength. Japanese people believe that if you eat food that contains the syllable ‘woo’, they will not be affected by the summer heat, so they have an eating custom to eat the eel to overcome the heat.

2. Products to beat the heat
  Japan is a paradise of novel products, so a new product that can beat the heat came out called the portable neck fan. If the portable electric fans are a must for hot weather in Korea, the portable neck fans are a must in Japan. People use neck fans by hanging a portable fan around their neck and then they can use their hands freely. This product is gaining a lot of popularity in Japan and is replacing the portable electric fans. Surprisingly, they are not popular in Korea, so Korea and Japan are uniquely equipped to use different portable electric fans even though they are neighboring countries.

3. Ways to enjoy the vacation
  If you look at the ways to enjoy the summer vacation in Japan, people can often see Japan overcoming heat through festivals. The major festival in Japan is Nacheumajjeuri. Nacheu means summer, and majjeuri means festival in Japanese. In other words, it is a summer festival, a festival to overcome the hot summer by enjoying traditional games. The festival starts in mid-July when the summer vacation begins, and it continues through mid-August. The main event of the festival is bongodori, a traditional majjeuri dance where people wear yukata, dance to the drum rhythms in a circle and sing songs. In addition, during the festival, there are many shops for eating and playing games. People of all ages and sexes can enjoy the summer festival.

  Some countries are suffering from extreme summer heat that people have not experienced before. Lee Ji-eon, who is a director of the Energy Department of Korea Federation for Environmental Movement, said, “The average temperature of the earth compared with preindustrial times increased by about 1˚C. Due to global warming, the heat waves have been getting nastier and nastier. If greenhouse gases continue to increase, the average temperature of the earth will rise by about 4~5˚C.” In this way, Extreme temperatures have become an unavoidable annual event when forecasting future trends. The extreme heat will continue every year, and people must find ways to beat the heat. If you don’t know how to endure the hot summer, why don’t you use the methods described above and overcome the suffocating summer heat?

By Kim Chae-hyeon l ch38@cbnu.ac.kr
By Jo Se-in l si38@cbnu.ac.kr