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#KuToo campaign: Japanese women should wear high heels in workplace, says labour minister Takumi Nemoto
- Takumi Nemoto made the comment in response to a petition carrying 18,800 signatures calling for a ban on workplaces requiring high heels
- Campaigners say the footwear is seen as near-obligatory for women when job hunting or working at many Japanese companies
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Japan’s health and labour minister has defended workplaces that require women to wear high heels to work, arguing it is “necessary and appropriate” after a petition was filed against the practice.
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The remark came after Takumi Nemoto was asked to comment on a petition carrying 18,800 signatures collected by a group of women who want the government to ban workplaces from requiring female jobseekers and employees to wear high heels.
“It is socially accepted as something that falls with the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate,” Nemoto told a legislative committee on Wednesday.
The petition was submitted to the labour ministry on Tuesday, and the campaign has been dubbed #KuToo, a play on words from the Japanese word “kutsu” – meaning shoes – and “kutsuu” – meaning “pain”, and a reference to the global #MeToo movement against sexual abuse.
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The movement was launched by actress and freelance writer Yumi Ishikawa and quickly won support from thousands of people online.
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