Japanese bureaucrats enforce clean-cut look
This is what a Real Man in Japan should look like
In feudal Japan, a beard was considered a symbol of power or a declaration of belligerent intent but bureaucrats in one town could find themselves sent to the bathroom, razor in hand, for sporting even the suggestion of a five o’clock shadow.
Authorities in Isesaki, Gunma prefecture, have ordered all male employees to shave off their facial hair, and banish all thoughts of growing any, following complaints from members of the public who said they found dealing with bearded bureaucrats “unpleasant”.
The ban, the first of its kind among Japanese public officials, applies to any manifestation of facial hair, from lovingly cultivated full beards to trendy goatees and designer stubble.
The only acceptable public face of Isesaki, the local government said, is a clean-shaven one. “Some citizens find bearded men unpleasant, so beards are banned,” an in-house notice warned this week…
The Isesaki ban is reminiscent of the strict rules on physical appearance enforced by conservative companies in the postwar period in the belief that Japan’s rise to economic superpower required absolute conformity.
But this was the first time that an absence of whiskers had been enforced among civil servants, the internal affairs and communications ministry said.
I have to smile in retrospect – thinking of the years I worked with Asian companies, especially Japanese.
Whenever one of my mates skipped over to join a company from Japan, the first question I would ask is “what color jacket do you have to wear?”
Though the habit of chanting slogans in a circle before the opening of a trade show eventually caught on with some of the American companies.
I haven’t been without a beard since 1979. My system couldn’t stand the shock of shaving.
I got told to shave a beard that I was growing before an important client visted a company where I worked in Japan. I was less than happy and was secure enough in my job to let management know it, but I shaved it off to avoid a real confrontation.
The visitor arrived. His beard would have made Zeus green with envy. The look on my boss’s face was hilarious, I forgot all about the annoyance, I was too busy laughing. Anyway, where I work now, my boss’s boss’s boss has a beard, as so I.
Joking aside, I consider it un-Japanese to ban beards. As you have noted, many Japanese had beards or other facial hair in the past – just look at ukiyo-e of famous warriors, and their helmets which included fake moustaches. The fools who came up with the ban should study their own history. I find the femminisation of society, Japan and overseas, offensive. The officials should be sacked.
Andrew
May 31, 2010 at 8:53 pm
If I’m not mistaken Mr. Miyagi had a beard in Karate Kid. And people took him serious. I absolutely support a kempt appearance in all venues, however, I think they are more than slightly overreaching here. How about laying down some ground rules for maintaining a well kept beard. What will they ban next that the public find offensive?
Bill Chrismer
May 31, 2010 at 9:50 pm
What will they ban next that the public find offensive?
Deer ticks get my vote.
Mr. Fusion
June 1, 2010 at 5:38 pm