Nearly half of Japan's businessmen have spent their office and commuting hours without ties and jackets this summer, under the "Cool Biz" dress code, a recent poll shows.
Cool Biz was launched by the government in an effort to save energy expended by air conditioners, and thereby fight global warming.
The poll, conducted by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, a research arm of ad agency Hakuhodo Inc., found that 45.2 percent of about 50,000 businessmen surveyed now spend their office and commuting hours wearing neither ties nor jackets.
But 26.5 percent of those polled said they still wear both ties and jackets, while 16.8 percent have done away with their jackets but still wear ties. Around 11.6 percent go without ties but wear jackets.
The survey was carried out Aug. 1, when temperatures in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka exceeded 30.
The "Cool Biz" campaign boosted sales of men's clothing this summer, with department stores in Tokyo reporting a 1.2 percent rise in sales in July, the biggest rise in about 4 years.