The Hairy Truth About Japan's New Dress Code

Among the many commendable ways to conserve energy during hot weather, I’d like to applaud Japan’s latest initiative: allowing government workers to wear shorts to the office.

I love shorts. Just ask my wife and she’ll tell you that shorts are my preferred mode of dressing, whether I’m going to the gym, relaxing around the house or attending a fancy wedding.

My wife, of course, would keep me from wearing shorts to a wedding, telling me that it’s inappropriate to wear anything that might cause the bride’s mother to faint. After you’ve spent months, perhaps years, planning a wedding, the last thing you want to see in your photos is a pair of hairy legs.

Women who work in government offices in Tokyo, however, are not being spared the sight of hairy legs. As The New York Times reported, some of them are not happy about this. The Japanese news media is even using the term “sune-hara,” which means “leg-hair harassment.”

I’ve heard of leg-hair harassment before, but it’s usually men being harassed over their hairy legs. Well, perhaps not “men,” but certainly “boys.”

Back in my high school days in Zambia, when shorts were part of the uniform, nobody wanted to be the boy with the hairiest legs. He was usually a South Asian boy like me with enough hair on his legs to require a daily brushing. I say “usually” because, every now and then, a European student would join our school and give the Asians a run for their money.

Needless to say, having the hairiest legs meant that you had to endure quite a bit of teasing. If your name happened to be “Hari,” you were known as “Hairy” for the rest of your school days. But for the boy with the hairiest legs, it was always a consolation that there were a number of other boys, including me, who weren’t too far behind. It’s always good to have company, whether you have too much hair or too little.

Indeed, some Japanese men were reluctant to wear shorts, but after seeing their co-workers doing so, they’ve decided to embrace this new dress code. It’s the latest phase of the “Cool Biz” initiative that Japan’s Environment Ministry introduced a decade ago, encouraging workers to wear more comfortable clothing during summer months in order to tolerate higher temperatures in the office. By setting thermostats to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) in government offices, the air conditioners do not have to use much energy. Eighty-two degrees may not seem that high, but try working eight hours in a suit, and you might soon be filing a suit.

Before shorts were permitted, “Cool Biz” allowed workers to opt out of wearing suits, neckties and long-sleeved shirts. Now they get to wear shorts and T-shirts, and eventually they might be able to show up in beachwear.

As you might expect, some of the men are treading carefully, trying to minimize the possibility of leg-hair harassment. As The Times reported, 53-year-old Noboru Watanabe, an environmental official in Tokyo, asked a woman who works under him, 23-year-old Ruai Sajiki, if she would be okay seeing a little leg. She gave her consent, but what was she supposed to say? “Sorry boss, I’d prefer if you keep it in your pants.”

Some Japanese commenters find the dress code unfair to women, as they can’t wear shorts without also wearing pantyhose or shaving their legs.

This is true. It’s time for the Japanese government to smooth things over by launching an ad campaign for men: “Be smooth in the office. Don’t forget your Gillette.”