Heat-hit Tokyo officegoers ditch suits, embrace shorts

As record temps grip Japan, the capital is relaxing its famously formal office dress code to save energy and keep workers comfortable.

As another sweltering summer grips Japan, Tokyo’s famously buttoned-up bure­aucracy is embracing shorts in the workplace under an expanded “Cool Biz” campaign to reduce air-conditioning use and easing pressure on electricity supplies.

The initiative, announced by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, encourages officials to wear polo shirts, T-shirts, sneakers and, where appropriate, shorts instead of traditional business suits.

For metropolitan government official Noboru Watanabe, 50, the change took some getting used to. “It was embarrassing at first,” he said. “But once you wear them, you realise just how comfortable they are.” He still changes into a formal shirt when work requires it.

On a recent day when temperatures reached about 34°C, several men in his office chose shorts over suits, reflecting a gradual shift in Japan’s conservative office culture.

The revised dress code builds on the Cool Biz campaign launched in 2005, when Koike was environment minister, to encourage lighter clothing during summer.

Not everyone is convinced. While some employees welcomed the flexibility, others argued shorts were too casual for the workplace.

Japan recorded its hottest summer on record in 2025, with scientists linking increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves to climate change.