For your eyes only
Reading glasses are freely available at banks, clinics, post offices and a host of government offices.
POINTING to the three pairs of spectacles in a round plastic container on the counter at the clinic, I asked the receptionist: “Waseremono desu ka?”
“No, they are not left behind by patients. They are rogankyou. Would you like to borrow one?” she said.
“Uh, no thank you,” I replied. Her answer confirmed what I thought were reading glasses or glasses for the elderly.
Sometimes patients forget to bring their own reading glasses or need a pair when filling in questionnaires regarding their medical history. These rogankyou, which are of different magnifying powers, sure come in handy.
Many government offices, banks, post offices and some hospitals or clinics in Japan provide rogankyou.
When I first saw three pairs of reading glasses in a box at a post office, I was surprised. The instructions on the box read: “Glasses for loan. Please feel free to use it and return it to its respective place after use.” The pair with the black frame has the lowest dioptric power, the orange-framed pair is of medium dioptre, and the red-framed pair has the strongest reading power.
As I stepped into the district office, I was taken aback. Whoa! What used to be reading glasses for filling up forms on the table have been replaced by huge, flexible arm magnifiers. There must be a big percentage of the population which is experiencing presbyopia.
Presbyopia is a condition in which the crystalline lens of your eye loses its flexibility, which makes it difficult for you to focus on close objects.
Presbyopia usually develops when we are in our forties, and it is a natural part of the aging process.
Most of my myopic (short-sighted) friends wear contact lenses. Now that they are in their forties, they have become presbyopic. Since multifocal contact lenses are expensive, they have opted for reading glasses.
Some bought slim, elegant rogankyou with sleek pen-sized cases which can be carried in the handbag or pocket.
Due to hyperopia (farsightedness), presbyopia and an eye disease, I use two pairs of spectacles: a pair of progressive addition lenses that offers a more gradual visual transition, and a no-line bifocal. A Japanese friend once gave me an accessory – a necklace with a pendant magnifier. The magnifier was so powerful that each alphabet looked gigantic!
While I was at the ophthalmology department in a hospital last year, an elderly woman’s spectacles caught my attention. It had plastic fittings wrapped around the lens of her spectacles, like goggles. Eager to get something like hers, I approached her.
“It is clipped onto my glasses to protect my eyes from UV rays. Also good for protection from hay fever,” she explained.
“Where did you get it and how much is it?” I inquired.
“At an optical shop I frequent. Cost me ¥2,000 (RM77) or so,” she replied. She removed her glasses and placed it on the couch for me to take a snapshot.
When I had a new pair of glasses made, I was disappointed that the big optical shop I patronised didn’t have that type of fitting.
However, when I went back to Malaysia last summer, my sisters showed me their polarised wraparound sunglasses. Cool! They were even better, since I could wear them over my spectacles. So I bought three pairs with three different coloured frames for myself, my husband and my son. My Japanese friends in Yokohama have not seen such sunglasses in shops yet. One commented that they would sell well. In fact, a Malaysian friend in Japan requested for one, too.
Since sunglasses with big frames are in fashion now, many Japanese friends think that I am “kakkoii” (stylish) with my wrap-around sunglasses and a black cap. If I add on a mask to safeguard against hay fever, I look “kowai” (scary).
My mischievous husband took a snapshot of me to prove it.