The government’s annual Cool Biz energy-saving campaign for late spring and summer kicked off across Japan on Wednesday.
Cool Biz, which will last until Sept 30, encourages workers to dress down, ditching their suits and ties for open-necked, short-sleeved shirts in their offices. It also suggests office air conditioners be set at 28 degrees Celsius.
At the environment ministry offices in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki, some employees wore T-shirts and Okinawa's kariyushi summer shirts.
Cool Biz was started in 2005 by then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions and electricity use. It started on June 1 each year until 2011 when it was brought forward by a month in a bid to conserve electricity after worries that there would be a power shortage following the March 11 disaster.
This year's campaign is part of deco-katsu, a national effort to reduce CO2 emissions to prevent global warming.
