Tokyo workers encouraged to wear shorts to cut energy costs and keep cool | Japan
Civil servants working for the Tokyo metropolitan government are being encouraged to swap their suits for shorts this summer to combat sweltering heat and rising energy costs caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Inspired by Japan’s Cool Biz energy-saving initiative, Tokyo officials hope the measure will reduce reliance on air conditioning.
Cool Biz, launched by the environment ministry in 2005, initially encouraged civil servants to ditch ties and jackets, but has so far not allowed them to show their bare legs in front of colleagues.
Japan and other countries in Asia are increasingly concerned about the economic effects of conflict in the Middle East due to rising oil prices and shortages of petroleum products such as jet fuel.
Resource-poor Japan is particularly vulnerable to a protracted war because it depends on the Middle East for 90% of its oil imports, most of which pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Approximately 20 percent of the natural gas used in South Korea comes from the same route.
Vietnam, South Korea and other countries have taken steps to ration energy use, while other Asian countries have encouraged government officials to work from home or shortened the work week. In Seoul, authorities urged residents to take short trips on foot or by bike.
Japan has already tapped into its large strategic oil reserves, according to local media reports on Friday that it plans to extract another 20 days of oil reserves from May 1. It also imports oil from suppliers that do not use the Strait of Hormuz.
Experts have warned that the world’s fourth-largest economy will eventually face crude oil shortages if shipping in the vital waterway does not return to normal soon. This could force businesses and households to make more severe cuts in oil and electricity use, as happened during the oil shocks of the 1970s.
The threat of an energy crisis was “one of the factors” in allowing Tokyo government staff to wear casual clothes to work, Agence France-Presse said, adding that since the initiative was launched this week, coinciding with the launch of Japan’s heatstroke warning system, some employees have been seen wearing shorts, T-shirts and short-sleeved blouses.
A metropolitan government official who wore shorts to the office for the first time told the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper: “I was a little nervous, but it’s very comfortable and I feel it will improve my work efficiency.” “As the weather gets hotter, I want to come in earlier and work from home.”
Citing the “serious outlook for electricity supply and demand”, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who was behind the Cool Biz campaign two decades ago as environment minister, told reporters: “We encourage cool clothing that prioritizes comfort, including Polish shirts, T-shirts and sneakers and – depending on work responsibilities – shorts.”
Despite the war, Japanese employers have been forced to rethink old rules on workplace dress code as a result of the climate crisis. Last year the country experienced its hottest summer since records began in 1898, according to the weather agency.
Now that it’s no longer unheard of for temperatures to reach 40C or above, the agency announced a new extreme weather event last week: kokoshoor “brutally hot.”
