Tokyo's 'Cool Biz' campaign, allowing male employees to wear shorts in the office, aims to improve comfort and reduce electricity use. The initiative, championed by Governor Koike, has faced swift criticism.
Tokyo's 'Cool Biz' campaign, allowing male employees to wear shorts in the office, has faced swift backlash. The initiative aims to improve comfort and reduce electricity use amid rising fuel prices.
Tokyo metropolitan government employees are being encouraged to wear casual attire including shorts to work this summer to combat sweltering heat and reduce air conditioning use amid energy supply concerns linked to the US-Israel war on Iran. The measure, announced by Governor Yuriko Koike, builds on Japan's Cool Biz initiative launched in 2005. Japan depends on the Middle East for 90% of its oil imports, most passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and has tapped strategic reserves while planning further releases.
Tokyo's metropolitan government is allowing employees to wear shorts to work as part of an expanded Cool Biz energy-saving programme, citing rising temperatures and potential energy supply pressures linked to the Middle East conflict. Governor Yuriko Koike, who originally championed the initiative as environment minister, is supporting the relaxed dress code including polo shirts, T-shirts and sneakers. Japan recorded its hottest year since records began in 1898, with temperatures exceeding 40°C now formally classified as "cruelly hot" days.
