Sartorial environmentalism

Could casual clothing lower the need for air conditioning in the workplace?

Ryotaro Kishi ditched his jacket and tie. The 37-year-old employee of the telecom company NTT in Saitama, Japan, is entrenched in the country's conservative business culture, so his move is a pretty big deal. But the land of formality is also suffering a post-earthquake energy crisis so drastic that many buildings can't be cooled below 82 degrees. Kishi wants to dress down even more, but instead, he's stuck sweating at his desk. "I can't look more casual than my clients do," he says. That's too bad: His government wants everyone to chill out. Under the banner of a campaign called "Super Cool Biz," it's suggesting that people arrive at work earlier, before the sun beats down. It's telling them to eat icy desserts. But most notably, as if this were its own sort of after-shock, it's asking them to wear sandals and shorts and Hawaiian shirts--to work! Attire in Japan is seen as a sign of respect to your superior, but that's not the government's concern. To avoid nation-wide blackouts, it must reduce energy use by 15% this summer.

I'm all for lowering one's energy needs, but I'm unsure as to whether I would submit to a program which would do so at the cost of looking like a complete imbecile. Furthermore, I wonder how, in a country where some workplaces have taken to measuring their employees' waistlines, icy desserts would be received at work. Regardless, the percentage they wish to cut seems far too low – I wouldn't be participating at fifty percent, let alone fifteen.