Air-conditioned clothes launched in Japan

What's cooler than being naked? Wearing air-conditioned clothing, of course.

Japanese entrepreneur Hiroshi Ichigaya is selling jackets, shirts and pants outfitted with battery-powered "personal cooling systems".

Small fans circulate so much air over the wearer's body that a 31C room feels comfortable, according to journalists from America's ABC News who tested the clothing.

This would be just another quirky news-of-the-weird type profile were it not for the demand caused by post-tsunami power shortages.

Japan's residents have been asked to cut energy use by 15 per cent. So they're resorting to this clothing brand - called Kuchofuku - to save money.

And according to ABC News, Ichigaya is selling to 1000 companies and getting requests from the prime minister's office for half a million jackets.

- AAP