Due to summer heat, Tokyo encourages office workers to wear shorts. However, social pressures mean that it is mostly men doing so, and some women complain about “leg hair harassment”.
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20260423-323913/
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/world/asia/japan-cool-biz-tokyo-shorts-heat.html
Before reading, I thought this meant women were being harassed for unshaven legs.
But it means some women are objecting to seeing hirsute male legs. I’d have thought the women would take issue with the fact that they’re still required to wear pantyhose plus full makeup
Could be that the complaint about leg hair is sometimes a roundabout way of commenting on the inequality of social norms regarding how women versus men are expected to dress, even when official policy is equal.
But it does seem to have led to an increase in men seeking laser hair removal on their legs.
I thought hair on men’s bodies was supposed to be a sign of masculinity/virility, etc.
Absolutely. This is what men should look like:
Sigh. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.
(Now you’ve done it. My heart’s racing, and I’m too old for this.)
I’m used to very little hair on bodies (for men & women) and am not particularly excited to see a lot of it on anyone. It’s OK if it’s there but also fine if it isn’t. Personally, I’ve only shaved my legs once as an experiment. My leg hair is very fine and sparse so as to be unnoticeable. I also have only worn stockings under a dozen times in my life—I find them miserable.
Of course, in Hawaii, a large percentage of people have the EDAR 370A gene, which causes less body hair (but thicker and straighter scalp hair), so very hairy legs may not be that common compared to most other US states. That gene is also very common in Japan, so maybe people there are more sensitive to even small amounts of leg hair, or the complaint is a proxy for complaints about social pressure on how women versus men dress.
They should spend a weekend at an Italian beach. That’ll cure them 
Up until the 80s and maybe beyond, women in some jobs (in the US) were required to wear stockings.
I think I read somewhere that Princes Kate wears pantyhose in all public appearances.
That’s not true, particularly after the death of QEII. While she generally wears tights - in UK parlance - for formal occasions, she often goes bare legged when wearing a day dress at an event. And she also wears pants / trousers more frequently than her predecessors.
Folks, if you think pantyhose replaces the need for leg shaving, you are deadly wrong. 
Maybe when it is ready hot… but when it is chilly, the unshaven hair will naturally stand up…
poking through that sheer layer of nylon! The result is a really weird look, especially if the hose is substantially darker or lighter than the hair!
Please don’t wear hose over visibly unshaved legs. We can’t unsee that.
