Tokyo urges men to wear shorts to work, but women say ‘leg hair is harassment’

As the temperature rises this summer, Japanese men are putting more legs to work than ever before.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is pushing the company’s employees to ditch their casual attire of T-shirts, trainers – and shorts – and stick to more casual outfits.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike introduced “Tokyo Cool Biz” in April, hoping to expand her signature cooling initiative that has now become a well-known annual summer tradition.

Four months in, the newly approved shorts in office policy are getting mixed reviews.

Some analysts enjoy relaxed rules to help them work more efficiently. Others say the policy is unfair to women because they are still required to wear tight clothing when showing their legs. And a few women describe their experiences as “leg hair harassment,” or an online coined term, “sunehara,” referring to the discomfort of being forced to look at their partner’s leg hair.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government environmental protection official Noboru Watanabe told the BBC: “We don’t want to tell people what to wear, just to give people more options in extreme heat. As long as the work clothes don’t affect anyone, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

A June poll by Gorilla Clinic found that 53.5% opposed wearing shorts to work in the summer, while 46.5% supported the new advice.

For both genders, the main reason for opposing shorts in the office was concern for body shape and body hair. The clinic said that women outnumbered men in their response, indicating that women are more likely to tolerate the sight of their male partner’s bare feet.

In recent years, more Japanese people, especially those working in startups and technology companies, have started wearing casual clothes. But this year, the Tokyo government’s recommendation has made it socially acceptable. Still, some men are self-conscious about their leg hair.

Akifumi Funatsu, director of the Gorilla Clinic, said he noticed that many clients come to the clinic not just for cosmetic reasons, but for “social etiquette when wearing a suit.” He believes that “men should have less leg hair” which has prompted women to seek laser hair removal so as not to offend those around them.