Tokyo Loosens Dress Code for City Employees Amid Heat
Tokyo is loosening dress codes for city employees as summer temperatures in the city soar and war in the Middle East makes conserving energy a priority.
Tokyo Loosens Office Dress Codes Amid Record Heat
REPORTER:
In Tokyo’s upscale Ginza District, passersby pause for a refreshing spritz from a mister set up to help deal with a hot, sticky summer.
Temperatures in parts of Japan’s capital broke 36 degrees Celsius Tuesday. By mid-afternoon, 52 people across the city had been sent for treatment for suspected heatstroke.
Though hot summers aren’t unusual in Japan, this latest heatwave comes at a tough time for the country. War in the Middle East has cut Japan off from key supplies of imported energy—needed for things like air conditioning. And so, Tokyo’s government offices are trying something new.
Japan has experimented with so-called “Cool Biz”—a looser dress code designed to save power—since 2005. But Tokyo is now going further, encouraging city employees to wear even lighter clothing. Clothes that would still be out of place in many offices, where more conservative business attire is the norm.
Watanabe Noboru (TOKYO GOVERNMENT WORKER):
What we are specifically proposing this year is going without ties and jackets, which we've actually been doing for a while, but as an added plus, we are now proposing items like polo shirts, T-shirts, jeans, sneakers, and, depending on the nature of the work, even shorts as options they can choose from.
REPORTER:
Could this local trial for civil servants be the start of something bigger? People on Tokyo’s streets have a range of views.
Deguchi Takayuki (MARKETING EMPLOYEE):
Being able to wear shorts to regulate your temperature in this kind of heat is a very flexible approach, and I think it's quite a good initiative.
Koike Sachie (REAL ESTATE EMPLOYEE):
Since it is a workplace... well, maybe it's fine for people working in restaurants and such, but for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government or public offices, sorry, this is just my personal feeling. Honestly, I would still prefer them to hold back a little bit.
REPORTER:
But Japan's summers aren’t going to get cooler. Climate change and the heat island effect have led to a growth in the number of days where temperatures break 40 degrees Celsius. In April, Japan’s weather service even added a new term to official weather forecasting language to describe these extremely hot days. On a warming planet, the suit and tie may become harder to stick to at the peak of the summer heat.
