The Environment Ministry's annual "warm biz" campaign kicked off on Monday, calling for reduced use of heating at workplaces and households to help conserve energy.

A winter counterpart to the "cool biz" summer program, the campaign urges people to adopt living habits that make it comfortable to stay in a room where the heating is set to 20 degrees Celsius.

To realize this, it recommends wearing thermal-style underwear, donning sweaters, using a lap blanket and eating warming foods and drinks.

The annual campaign, started in 2005 as a way to help combat global warming, will last until the end of March.

It also encourages families and friends to share a heated space by having a home party or nabe hot pot dinner in which food is shared as it is cooked.

The ministry calls the practice "warm share."

Compared to cool biz, warm biz is yet to gain wide recognition.

A ministry survey in fiscal 2014 found only 70.8 percent of respondents heard of warm biz, compared to 92.5 percent for cool biz.