MAEBASHI —
The issue of men with facial hair in the workplace has recently
prompted serious discussions in Japan, as well as actual bans on
the alleged grounds of decorum.
In May, the municipality of Isesaki banned all male staff from
wearing beards in its offices on the grounds that public servants
should look decent. The Gunma Prefecture city took the action after
hearing local citizens complain about its bearded
workers.
In response to the news, the Internal Affairs and Communications
Ministry said it had never heard of any municipality in the country
introducing such a rule.
Still, the new policy adopted by Isesaki seems nothing new. A
growing number of Japanese workers, including athletes, are being
prohibited from turning up for work unshaven so as not to offend
the public.
Major convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co is
particularly strict about the appearance of its employees and says
it will hire no men with beards.
‘‘We might fire workers growing beards regardless of whether they
are regular staff or part-time workers,’’ said the company’s public
relations officer.
Oriental Land Co, which operates Tokyo Disney Resort, also bans
beards. ‘‘It’s important that workers serving our guests maintain
an immaculate image,’’ said one official with the theme park firm.
‘‘But the rule does not apply to the man playing the role of
Captain Hook in our park.’‘
The manufacturing arm of razor maker Kai Corp tests the quality of
its products almost every month on their male workers. They grow
their facial hair until the monthly test date arrives and get back
to work clean shaven after the tests.
Some men do take issue with a beard ban, however.
One employee of Japan Post Service Co sued the firm, protesting
against a pay cut imposed because he wore a beard. In March this
year, the Kobe District Court ordered the mail service company to
pay compensation of 370,000 yen to the plaintiff on the grounds
that people’s appearance is a matter of personal freedom and that a
uniform ban on beards is unreasonable.
In the sports world, the Yomiuri Giants baseball club is well known
for its ban on beards. When he left the Nippon Ham Fighters for the
Giants in December 2006, infielder Michihiro Ogasawara made his
fans gasp by shaving his trademark beard.
The star baseballer said abiding by his team’s rules was a matter
of his manhood.
No regulations exist regarding facial hair in the world of sumo,
the most tradition-bound of sports in Japan.
According to the Japan Sumo Association, some non-Japanese
wrestlers took flak in the past because they tend to be more hairy
than most Japanese and some sumo fans found their bushy facial hair
unseemly. By and large, not wearing a beard is a tacit
rule.
The association, however, is rather flexible regarding the issue.
‘‘We work in the world where luck counts a great deal so some
wrestlers don’t get a shave during their winning streak (thinking
their luck may not last without their beards),’’ said an official
with the association.
‘‘It is said that growing a beard or not should be a matter of
personal freedom and left to each individual to decide, but
organizations fail to function well if they lack a certain measure
of discipline,’’ says Mitsuru Yaku, a cartoonist, who speaks as a
commentator on various social issues and is a bearded man
himself.
‘‘A beard is a symbol that is the polar opposite of a virtue
associated with a serious-minded adult, and many people equate
beards with decadence or moral laxity,’’ he said. ‘‘A beard ban
will likely continue even if young people sport beards to be
stylish.’‘
Fumio Haruyama, who chairs the human rights committee of the Gunma
Bar Association, takes a dim view of the beard ban, saying it
restricts the freedom of individuals and that the notion that a
beard is unacceptable is an arbitrary preconception.
‘‘People who do not shave out of laziness might be a different
matter but I question whether it’s right to set regulations
concerning facial hair,’’ he said.