Tokyo Workers Can Wear Shorts in Hot Weather
Friday, 2026/07/24226 words3 minutes2493 reads
As Tokyo confronts increasingly severe summer heat, the Metropolitan Government has expanded its Cool Biz initiative to encourage office workers to abandon traditional business attire in favour of casual clothing, including T-shirts, trainers, and shorts. Governor Yuriko Koike launched this broadened campaign in April 2026, positioning it as a practical response to extreme temperatures rather than a mandatory dress code.
The shorts recommendation has generated considerable controversy. A June survey conducted by Gorilla Clinic revealed that 53.5% of respondents opposed wearing shorts to work, citing concerns about body image and body hair visibility. The debate has taken on a gendered dimension, with some women arguing that the policy perpetuates workplace inequality. They contend that while men gain sartorial freedom, women remain subject to expectations about wearing tights when their legs are exposed. The term "sunehara"—a portmanteau meaning "leg hair harassment"—has emerged in online discussions to express discomfort with male colleagues' visible leg hair.
This initiative represents an evolution of the original Cool Biz campaign Koike introduced as environment minister in 2005, which was subsequently expanded after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Japan's current predicament of record-breaking heat and escalating energy costs has made such adaptations increasingly urgent. Official data from one week in July recorded seven heatstroke fatalities and over 4,500 hospital admissions, underscoring the serious health implications of extreme temperatures compounded by high humidity.
