Not everything in Tokyo is back to normal. Office workers complain that the corridors of their buildings are so dark, the result of electricity-saving measures, that they fail to recognise colleagues in the gloom. One man was spotted on the subway, also less bright than usual, wearing a miner’s hat with torch attached, the better to read his newspaper. There are fewer foreigners on the streets, since many who fled in the immediate aftermath of the March 11 earthquake have not returned. And shops have taken to selling unusual items: one was offering “ice-touch underpants” for the hot, non-air-conditioned summer that descended with a vengeance on the capital this week.
東京還沒有完全恢復正常。辦公室職員們抱怨，節電措施致使大樓走廊燈光過于微弱，同事在昏暗中見面都認不出彼此。地鐵里的燈光也沒有以往明亮，有人看到有一名男子戴著礦工用的安全帽，開著頂燈，就為了能在地鐵里看報紙。大街上的外國人變少了，因為很多外國人在3月11日的地震后立即離開，現在還沒有返回。商店紛紛賣起了以往不常見的東西，其中有一家正在出售“冰感底褲”，因為一個沒有空調制冷的炎夏剛剛降臨東京，展開了大自然的報復。