The government began its Super Cool Biz campaign Monday to promote energy conservation in the workplace by urging people to dress lightly and casually and set their thermostats at 28 degrees.
Entering the third season of enhanced power-saving efforts, which covers the period from June to September, workers at ministries and agencies are allowed to wear polo shirts, sneakers and even aloha shirts in the office.
The Environment Ministry is proposing that female employees wear lighter clothing under the campaign, which was started in 2011 to cope with power shortages triggered by the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Unlike the previous seasons, however, the ministry no longer allows its workers to wear T-shirts, jeans and sandals due to a lack of clarity over what is appropriate, a ministry official said.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara will give a push to the campaign by donning "kariyushi" — an informal shirt from Okinawa — at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.