Cool Biz campaign

The Cool Biz campaign is a Japanese campaign initiated by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment from mid-2005 as a means to help reduce Japanese electricity consumption by limiting the use of air conditioning. This was enabled by changing the standard office air conditioner temperature to 28 °C (82 °F) and introducing a liberal summer dress code in the bureaucracy of the Japanese government so staff could work in the warmer temperature. The campaign then spread to the private sector.

This idea was proposed by the then-Minister Yuriko Koike under the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi. Initially the campaign was from June to September, but from 2011, when there were electricity shortages after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami it was lengthened. It now runs from May to October.