MAX KIM2026年8月12日 Associated Press; Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesStroll through Tokyo on a summer day and you’ll see hand-held fans everywhere. But the light-blue one that Eimi Nakayama was holding on a recent afternoon was a more high-tech variety. Outfitted with a small metal plate that runs on the same science behind semiconductors, it uses electrical currents to generate a chill.夏日漫步在东京街头，手持风扇随处可见。不过，中山咏美（音）在近日一个下午拿着的那把浅蓝色风扇属于科技含量更高的款式。它配备了一块小金属板，采用与半导体相同的科学原理，用电流来产生凉意。The sensation is “kind of like holding a cold drink against your neck,” said Ms. Nakayama, a 20-year-old university student. “Maybe because of the plate, the air flow feels a bit cooler, too.”现年20岁的大学生中山表示，这种感觉“有点像拿着冰饮贴在脖子上”。“也许是因为这块金属板，吹出来的风感觉也更凉爽了一点。”The product has lately been sweeping through cities in East Asia, where a deadly heat wave this month has led to canceled baseball games in South Korea and a new meteorological term in Japan: kokushobi, or “cruel heat day.”这类产品最近席卷了东亚各大城市。本月一场致命的热浪导致韩国取消了棒球比赛，日本则出现了一个新的气象术语：“酷暑日”(kokushobi)。East Asia’s summers are becoming hotter and longer, and such “personal cooling” has become a ubiquitous part of daily life. A market once dominated by inexpensive hand-held fans now includes a growing array of more sophisticated products, from air-conditioned apparel to cooling sprays that claim to lower your body temperature within seconds.东亚的夏天正变得越来越热、越来越漫长，而这种“个人降温”已成为日常生活中无处不在的一部分。这个曾经由廉价手持风扇主导的市场如今涵盖了越来越多更为尖端的产品，从空调服装到声称能在几秒钟内降低体温的降温喷雾，应有尽有。Sales of cooling products are soaring, and employers and governments increasingly see them as a necessity rather than a luxury.降温产品的销量正在飙升，雇主和政府也日益将其视为必需品而非奢侈品。As in Japan, the market for such products in South Korea has grown dramatically over the past two years, said Lee Joo-young, an expert in the relationship between clothing and thermal environments at Seoul National University. She said a major factor is that motors and batteries have become cheaper and more effective, making powerful new cooling products accessible.首尔大学服装与热环境关系专家李周泳（音）表示，与日本一样，过去两年韩国此类产品的市场增长极其迅猛。她指出，一个主要因素是电机和电池变得更加便宜且高效，使得强力的新型降温产品得以普及。In Japan, the birthplace of the fan-cooled jacket — invented by Hiroshi Ichigaya, a former Sony electrical engineer, in 2004 — the online market for “heat countermeasure” products has expanded more than sixfold since 2020, according to Rakuten, one of the country’s biggest e-commerce platforms. It now lists roughly 800,000 products in that category.日本是空调服的发源地——该产品是2004年由前索尼电子工程师市谷弘司发明的。据日本最大的电商平台之一乐天的数据，自2020年以来，该平台上的“防暑对策”产品在线市场规模增长了五倍以上，目前列出的该品类产品约有80万件。Mr. Ichigaya’s invention has since evolved considerably. One apparel company recently introduced a vest studded with the same metal plates now appearing on hand-held fans.市谷的发明已经有了很大改变。最近，一家服装公司推出了一款背心，上面镶嵌着与新款手持风扇上相同的金属板。But these gadgets are no longer just aimed at consumers looking for quick relief during their commutes. Increasingly, they are becoming part of how governments and employers are adapting to extreme heat.但这些小装置不再仅仅针对那些希望在通勤途中寻求短暂清凉的消费者。它们正日益成为政府和雇主适应极端酷热方式的一部分。Chinese delivery platform Meituan is piloting “air-con jackets” — another spin on Mr. Ichigaya’s invention — for its delivery workers in Chongqing, a city in the country’s southwest. In Hubei Province in central China, the state-owned power company has equipped some of its workers with waist-mounted mini fans.中国外卖平台美团正在西南城市重庆进行外卖骑手空调服试点——这是市谷的发明的又一种变体。在中国中部的湖北省，国家电网公司为其部分工人配备了腰挂式微型风扇。6月，人们在香港一家商店里选购便携风扇。In Japan, the Ministry of the Environment and Tokyo’s metropolitan government have promoted parasols as an effective way to reduce heat stress, while some South Korean municipalities have been outfitting their street cleaners with neon cooling vests.在日本，环境省和东京都政府大力推广遮阳伞，将其作为减轻热应力的有效途径；而在韩国，一些地方政府一直在为其环卫工人配备荧光色降温背心。In South Korea, the need for such technologies is especially great on farms, said Kim In-soo, a researcher at the country’s National Institute of Agricultural Sciences. He recently designed his own cooling vest for greenhouse workers that is being piloted at 350 farms around the country.韩国国立农业科学院研究员金仁秀（音）表示，在韩国，农场对此类技术的需求尤为迫切。他最近为温室大棚工人设计了一款自研的降温背心，目前正在全国350个农场进行试点。“Greenhouses are one of the worst places to be during a heat wave,” he said. “It’s hot and humid and a lot of the work is time-sensitive harvesting that can’t be stopped at will.”“在高温天气里，温室大棚是最糟糕的地方之一，”他说。“那里又热又湿，而且很多工作都是有时效性的采摘，无法随心所欲地停下来。”The vest, which relies on a technology known as a “vortex tube,” is hooked up to a compressor that shoots cold, dry air into thin tubes, which then distribute it across the skin through tiny perforations running throughout the vest.这款背心依赖于一种被称为“涡流管”的技术，它与一台压缩机相连，压缩机将干燥的冷空气吹入细管中，随后通过布满整个背心的微孔将冷气散布到皮肤上。Seo Hye-young, the 35-year-old founder of a South Korean start-up that sells cooling neck bands online, has built a business around the growing appetite for cooling products, a trend she first noticed a few years ago.徐惠英（音）现年35岁，是韩国一家在线销售降温颈圈的初创企业的创始人。她围绕着人们对降温产品日益增长的需求建立了一家企业，这是她在几年前首次察觉到的趋势。At around $35 apiece, Ms. Seo’s product — a thick, squishy collar filled with coolant — is among the pricier options, but promises shorter freezing times and “explosive” cooling effects. She is on track to sell around 60,000 units this year.她的产品——一种充填有冷却剂的厚实、柔软的项圈——单价约为35美元（约合236元人民币），属于较为昂贵的选择，但承诺降温更快，且有“爆发式”的降温效果。今年的销量有望达到约6万件。“But it got so hot so quickly this year that we’re struggling to keep up with the sudden demand,” she said.“但是今年天气热得太快了，我们正在努力跟上这突如其来的需求，”她说。上周，东京一名送货员穿着带风扇的特制外套降温。The race to beat the heat has spawned more unusual inventions. In Japan, one company has developed a human-sized refrigerated booth that offers quick relief at construction sites, universities and evacuation shelters for natural disasters. Across East Asia, manufacturers are serving up solar-powered fan hats, hands-free parasols and air-conditioned pet houses, among other specialized devices.这场战胜酷暑的竞赛催生出了更多与众不同的发明。在日本，一家公司研发了一种人体大小的冷藏舱，为建筑工地、大学和自然灾害避难所提供快速清凉。而在东亚各地，制造商们正提供太阳能风扇帽、无需手持的遮阳伞和空调宠物屋等各种专业设备。But Ms. Lee, the professor, said cooling gadgets should not be treated as a cure-all.但李周泳表示，降温小装置不应被视为万灵药。“When the temperature is above 33 degrees Celsius or so, fans just blow hot air onto your skin,” she said. And the cooling neck bands? They lose their chill too quickly to make a big difference, she added.“当气温达到33摄氏度左右以上时，风扇吹向你皮肤的就只是热风，”她说。至于降温颈圈？凉意很快会消退，无法起到太大的作用。For most people, she said, the low-tech options are often most effective: drinking cold beverages; keeping your feet — among the body’s most notorious heat-trappers — uncovered and cool; and shielding yourself from the sun with parasols, many of which now have black undersides that block UV rays.她指出，对大多数人来说，低科技含量的选择往往最有效：饮用冰饮；保持双脚——人体中最恶名昭彰的集热部位之一——裸露和凉爽；以及用遮阳伞遮挡阳光，其中许多遮阳伞现在都配有可阻挡紫外线的黑色内衬。Among the recent converts to parasols is Lee Se-jin, a 36-year-old consultant in Seoul. Though they were primarily seen as a feminine item just a few years ago, he said, in heat like this, such notions of gender have largely gone out the window.现年36岁的首尔顾问李世镇（音）是最近开始使用遮阳伞的人之一。他说，虽然就在几年前遮阳伞还主要被视为女性用品，但在这样的酷暑下，这类关于性别的固有观念很大程度上早已烟消云散。“These days it really doesn’t feel strange to use a parasol as a man,” Mr. Lee said. “It’s been the biggest difference-maker in terms of actual cooling benefits.”“如今作为一个男人撑遮阳伞真的不觉得奇怪了，”他说。“这种降温手段的实际效果是最好的。”Kiuko Notoya对本文有报道贡献，Li You对本文有研究贡献。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。