Japan’s office shorts experiment exposes gendered double standards that employers should address now
A government-backed push to let Tokyo office workers wear shorts to beat record heat has sparked an unexpected backlash, with women coining the term “leg hair harassment” to describe the discomfort of seeing male colleagues’ bare legs while they remain under pressure to cover up. The debate, which has dominated Japanese media in July, carries a pointed lesson for HR leaders in Canada: even well-intentioned dress code changes can expose deep-seated gender inequities if they aren’t rolled out with care.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike launched the “Tokyo Cool Biz” campaign in April, expanding a decades-old initiative that encourages workers to ditch formal suits in summer. For the first time, the guidelines explicitly included shorts, T-shirts and sneakers as acceptable office attire for Tokyo Metropolitan Government employees. The goal was practical: help workers cope with temperatures that have exceeded 40°C (104°F) in several Japanese cities this summer and reduce reliance on air conditioning as energy costs climb.
“We want to give people more options in the severe heat, not tell them what to wear. There should be no issue as long as the work attire is not offensive to anyone,” Noboru Watanabe, an environmental official with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, told the BBC.
The backlash HR leaders should study
The policy applies to men and women alike on paper. In practice, critics say it has widened the gap. Women report that cultural expectations still require them to wear tights when showing their legs, spend money on hair removal and maintain a polished appearance that men are not held to. The online term “sunehara,” a portmanteau meaning “leg hair harassment,” quickly gained traction to describe the unease some women feel when male colleagues go bare-legged in professional settings.
Atsuko Tamada, a French literature professor at Chubu University in Japan, argued in an interview with the New York Times that if men are being encouraged to dress down and bare their legs, they should also be expected to groom them. Some men have taken the hint: Dr. Akifumi Funatsu, director of Gorilla Clinic in Tokyo, told the BBC he has noticed more male clients seeking laser hair removal, not for cosmetic reasons, but as “social etiquette when wearing shorts.”
For HR executives, the dynamic is familiar. Dress code disputes have long been a flashpoint for gender discrimination claims. Policies requiring women to wear heels or makeup while imposing no comparable standard for men have been successfully challenged in court, and the risk extends to any rule that creates unequal expectations around grooming, body hair or skin coverage.
What the Tokyo experiment means for workplaces
The Tokyo case is instructive because the policy itself was gender-neutral. The problem was the culture surrounding it, a gap between the written rule and the lived experience of men and women in the office. That gap is something HR leaders deal with every day, whether the issue is addressing inappropriate behavior before it escalates or navigating the rising complexity of workplace misconduct, which hit a near seven-year high in 2025 according to a report from HR Acuity.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has recommended that employers center dress codes on neutrality, using gender-neutral language to describe acceptable and unacceptable attire, and ensuring cultural and religious accommodations are built in. Theresa Adams, a senior HR knowledge advisor at SHRM, noted in an April 2025 analysis that “an inclusive dress code strengthens trust, empowers individuals, and reinforces a collaborative and respectful workplace culture.”
That advice takes on added urgency as more employers relax summer dress codes. Business casual was the most common workplace attire standard in 2026, but the definition of what counts as “casual” varies widely. Without clear, specific and equitable guidelines, companies risk the same backlash Tokyo is experiencing.
How HR can get ahead of dress code disputes
Employment attorneys and HR practitioners recommend several steps. First, any dress code change should be reviewed for gendered assumptions before it is announced. If shorts are allowed, they should be allowed for everyone, and no employee should face implicit pressure to manage their body hair or appearance in ways the policy does not require.
Second, enforcement must be consistent. Inconsistent discipline around appearance standards is one of the fastest paths to a discrimination claim, and recent cases involving employer failures to investigate harassment complaints show how quickly a gap between policy and practice can become a legal liability.
Third, HR leaders should treat dress code policy as a culture conversation, not just a compliance exercise. When the Tokyo government told workers they could wear shorts, it framed the change as flexibility. But it didn’t anticipate the cultural friction that would follow. As employers are forced to rethink heat-related policies, dress codes are likely to keep evolving. The organizations that handle those changes best will be the ones that consult employees before rolling them out, not after the backlash arrives.
As extreme heat becomes more common across Canada, the question of what employees wear to work is no longer just about professionalism. It’s about safety, and getting the policy right means getting the equity piece right, too.
