Tokyo advises residents to wear turtlenecks to save energy

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike advised residents of the Japanese capital to wear high-collared clothing to protect against the cold and save money at a time of rising energy prices.

Wearing a high-necked shirt under his jacket, Koike urged Tokyoites to wear thick clothing in winter to reduce electricity bills.

“Heating your neck has a thermal effect. I also have a fisherman’s sweater. Wearing a scarf also keeps you warm. It saves electricity,” Koike said on Friday.

“This is one of the tools to get through the harsh winter energy climate together,” he said, adding that French President Emmanuel Macron “takes the lead in wearing fishing sweaters.”

Like many countries, Japan, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2050, has been suffering from energy supply shortages since the start of the war in Ukraine.

In August, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for a revitalization of the country’s nuclear industry to combat rising costs of imported energy.

However, the measure will be difficult to implement due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, which caused many reactors to be shut down for safety reasons.

Eleven years later, 10 of Japan’s 33 nuclear reactors were back in operation. These do not operate all year and the country remains heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports.