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Being a Japanese businessman can’t be the easiest job in the world. Your day consists of getting physically shoved into a train, spilling out the door 30 minutes later, only to get yelled at by your boss all the time once you get to work. We haven’t actually confirmed the getting yelled at thing yet – though that’s what Hollywood tells us, which makes it science – but the part about Tokyo transit workers literally cramming people into subway cars is both surreal and 1000% true.
That kind of day-in day-out stress is bound to take a toll on a person’s immune system, and in an era of swine flu that could lead to total disaster – missed work days. To help workers avoid that apocalyptic scenario, Japanese clothing company Haruyama Trading has developed an anti-H1N1 business suit. This is basically your standard Japanese businessman sports jacket, available in four colors and styles, except it’s also coated with the same ostensibly virus-killing chemical they use in toothpaste. Fashionable yet functional:
The suit is proven to kill 40 percent of the latest flu virus in about three hours and will retain its protective capability even after being washed several times. “If a person with the flu virus coughs, it might get on someone else’s suit and from there, another person might get infected,” he told Reuters Television. “Small children might catch the virus after touching their father’s suit. We came up with this idea to protect all businessmen and their families.”
Relatedly, can you imagine how awesome it is to be the Tokyo Reuters Life journalist? Your job is to locate and describe weird products and events – and you work in Japan. What does a day’s worth of research entail, exactly? Opening our door? Pulling back the drapes? Do you even have to get out of bed most mornings?