Japan’s Abe Says Women Shouldn’t Be Forced to Wear Heels

(Bloomberg) -- Women can’t be forced to suffer impractical dress codes, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in response to a question about a social movement to end practices requiring female workers to wear high heels.

It is difficult however for the government to make a decision involving private company rules on the issue, and the matter needs more discussion with the involved parties, he said.

Last year, actor and writer Yumi Ishikawa sparked the #KuToo movement criticizing rules that require women to wear high heels to work. The hashtag plays on the Japanese words for shoe, or kutsu, and pain, kutsuu.

To contact the reporter on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kazunori Takada at ktakada17@bloomberg.net, Kana Nishizawa, Muneeza Naqvi

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