Japan Airlines ditches compulsory high heels and skirts in big win for #KuToo movement

Company becomes first major employer in the country to stop forcing dress code on women

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies
Fri 27 Mar 2020 04.09 GMT

Female flight attendants working for Japan Airlines will no longer be required to wear high heels or skirts, the airline has said, in a rare victory for Japan’s #KuToo campaign against workplace dress codes for women.

The airline is the first major Japanese company to relax its regulations in response to complaints from women that having to wear high heels was uncomfortable and often left them in considerable pain.

Japan Airlines (JAL) said that under its new dress code, which will take effect next month, almost 6,000 female crew members would be able to choose footwear that “best fits their needs” and swap their skirts for trousers, adding that the move was intended to create a “diverse working environment”.

The airline’s decision was welcomed by Yumi Ishikawa, an actor and writer who is credited with starting the #KuToo movement – a play on #MeToo that combines the Japanese words for shoes (kutsu) and pain (kutsuu).

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