'I don't want to see men's leg hair': Japan's shorts-at-work debate heats up

As Japan endures a record-breaking heat wave with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius, a "Cool Biz" policy allowing office workers to wear shorts has taken hold — but the initiative has sparked fresh workplace controversy, with complaints about men's leg hair and unequal dress standards for women giving rise to a new term: "sunehara," or "leg hair harassment."

According to the BBC on Tuesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been implementing the Cool Biz policy this summer, permitting office workers to wear casual attire including T-shirts, sneakers and shorts. The move follows a directive issued in April by Tokyo Gov. Koike Yuriko to relax dress codes as a way to cut air-conditioning energy use and cope with extreme heat.

Japan has seen a sharp rise in heat-related illnesses amid the relentless summer heat. According to Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency, seven people died of heatstroke and 4,580 were taken to hospital in the week of July 6 to 12.

Japan's Meteorological Agency has also introduced a new term — "extreme heat day" — to describe days when temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius, underscoring the severity of the conditions.

Now in its fourth month, the Cool Biz policy has drawn a mixed response from workers.

A survey conducted in June by Gorilla Clinic, a local laser hair-removal company, found that 53.5 percent of respondents opposed wearing shorts in the office during summer.

Both men and women cited concerns about body shape and body hair as the top reasons for their opposition. The clinic noted that female respondents made up a particularly large share of those opposed, saying the results showed "many women feel uncomfortable seeing the bare legs of their male colleagues."

Against this backdrop, some women have begun using the term "sunehara" (すねハラ) to describe situations where they are involuntarily exposed to a male colleague's leg hair. The word is a portmanteau of "sunege" (すね毛), meaning leg hair, and "harassment" (ハラスメント).

The policy has also reignited debate over gender double standards in the workplace. In Japanese office culture, women who wear shorts are still often expected to pair them with stockings — an unwritten rule that critics say reflects a persistent gap between the dress standards applied to men and women.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said the Cool Biz policy was never intended to mandate any particular style of dress.

Watanabe Noboru of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Environment told the BBC: "We are not trying to tell people what to wear in the extreme heat — we want to give people more choices. As long as work attire does not cause discomfort to others, we see no problem."

Even so, resistance to shorts in the office shows little sign of fading.

Funatsu Akifumi, director of Gorilla Clinic, said the number of male customers seeking leg hair removal has been rising, adding that "grooming leg hair has become a social etiquette expected of anyone wearing shorts."

Experts say the global trend toward relaxing dress codes in response to extreme heat is growing, but entrenched workplace cultures and gender norms mean social debate over new dress standards is likely to continue for now. As heat waves become more frequent due to climate change, striking the right balance between work efficiency, personal comfort and workplace etiquette is emerging as a new challenge.