Edict to dress down leaves Japanese men hot under the collar

The Daily Telegraph ^ | July 6, 2005 | Julian Ryall

[MadIvan]

There are many countries where instructions from no less than the prime minister for office workers to dress more casually would be gratefully seized upon. But not Japan.

Efforts led by Junichiro Koizumi to loosen the ties, literally, of his country's famously conformist workforce in a bid to save energy have met with stoic defiance.

Since early June, he has been exhorting his ministers, bureaucrats and the corporate world to discard their ties and jackets to make themselves cooler and so reduce electricity use from air conditioners in offices. That, in turn, will reduce global warming, he hopes.

Mr Koizumi has been regularly photographed tie-less and jacket-less at meetings.

With the end of the rainy season just a couple of weeks away - and sky-high humidity about to descend -many of the salarymen who built Japan Inc are however sticking to the heavy Western-style suits that are standard wear all year round. Some of the young generation of white-collar workers are loosening their top buttons, but it is proving much more difficult for the middle-aged.

Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co are turning up for meetings wearing badges pinned to their shirts with the message, "Please excuse me for being casually dressed". Some workers only unknot their ties in the office because they are afraid of what their neighbours might think.

"If I went into a meeting with a client and I wasn't wearing a suit and tie, it would be rude and disrespectful," said Hideki Itou, head of the investor relations department at Takashimaya department store in Tokyo.

"I'm wearing my tie and jacket here in the office right now, and so is everyone else around me," he said. "It could damage the company if I was seen not dressed like this."

The Foreign Ministry, however, has welcomed the initiative, with most bureaucrats cool with the changes, according to spokesman Akira Chiba. When protocol demands that ties be affixed, he added, grumbling can even be heard in the ranks.

[MadIvan]

It's nice to see one country that still takes decorum seriously.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Ping!

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Government edicts and human nature often collide.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

The world was a much nicer place when the women worse corsets.

[Codename - Ron Benjamin]

"That, in turn, will reduce global warming, he hopes."

Arrogance personified.

[Bon mots]

Actually, it would be cooler in the summer if everyone just went to work in their bathing suits or underwear. That would save a lot of electricity.

[SevenofNine]

MAN Japan take their dress code veryyy seriously

[wafflehouse]

he has been exhorting his ministers, bureaucrats and the corporate world to discard their ties and jackets to make themselves cooler and so reduce electricity use from air conditioners in offices. That, in turn, will reduce global warming, he hopes.

i think that may be a bit of a stretch..

less clothes = less global warming ??

[kenth]

But, wouldn't the reduction in global warming due to lower energy usage be offset by the release of the body heat formerly contained within the suits?

See, I'm always thinkin'...