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#KuToo: Japanese women call for ban on mandatory high heels in workplace dress codes

An online petition has received almost 20,000 signatures and has been submitted to the Japanese health ministry.

Women in heels at work
Image: The #KuToo movement is an amalgam of the Japanese terms for "shoes" and "pain"
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Thousands of people have backed a campaign in Japan calling for the government to ban workplaces from including high heels in their mandatory dress codes for women.?

The #KuToo movement - which is a play on #MeToo and an amalgam of the Japanese terms for "shoes" and "pain" - was launched by actress and freelance writer Yumi Ishikawa.

She said she is required to wear high heels while working at her current part-time job in a funeral parlour.

Ms Ishikawa is calling for a ban on workplaces forcing women to wear high heels
Image: Ms Ishikawa is calling for a ban on workplaces forcing women to wear high heels

In an online petition, she listed the health issues women face when consistently wearing high-heeled shoes, including bunions, blisters and pain in the lower back, which can lead to further concerns.

She wrote: "Funeral work is standing work, and you have to move around".

"I'm worried when thinking about getting older... it is difficult to move on the job, you cannot run, it hurts your feet," she added.

But Ms Ishikawa also noted that men are not held to the same expectations for dress-code "manners" as women.

More on Japan

Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, the 32-year-old said: "This is a problem that many women believed was a personal issue because [wearing high heels] is generally seen as good etiquette".

The petition has received almost 20,000 signatures and has since been submitted to the Japanese health ministry.

"Ideally we would like a new law as I believe this is an urgent issue," Ms Ishikawa told reporters.

She added: "I would like social perceptions to change so that women wearing formal flat shoes becomes standard".

Kristen Stewart removed her heels as she walked the red carpet for the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
Image: Kristen Stewart removed her heels on the red carpet at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival

Several campaigns against heel-only rules have cropped up around the world in recent years.

Women were reportedly turned away from movie premieres at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival for wearing flats, which prompted Julia Roberts to grace the red carpet barefoot the following year.

In 2018, Kristen Stewart also defied the festival's dress code by removing her stilettos after arriving for the BlacKkKlansman premiere.

Julia Roberts famously walked the Cannes red carpet barefoot in protest against heels-only dress codes
Image: Julia Roberts famously walked the Cannes red carpet barefoot in protest against heels-only dress codes

A British woman gathered more than 150,000 signatures in 2016 for an online petition against dress codes after she was sent home from work for not wearing heels.

A resulting inquiry found dress code discrimination was present in workplaces across the UK, but the government decided not to enact a proposed bill on banning requirements on high heels.