No sweat: Japanese men turn to body hair removal amid scorching heat

TOKYO - Summer is peak demand season at a men's grooming clinic in Japan, where appointments are becoming harder to get as scores seek to rid themselves of body hair for relief from brutal, sweltering heat.

"When I was thinking about what to start with, hair removal felt like the most obvious, visible choice," said Yuki Kubo, a 24-year-old office worker wearing safety glasses for the fourth treatment of his legs at the clinic in the Japanese capital.

Removing body hair was a New Year's resolution made with friends, he said, but the resulting smooth surface made him feel and look cleaner, besides eliminating his sweaty discomfort.

Facial hair removal was once the most sought-after treatment at Gorilla Clinic, which has 23 outlets nationwide, but demand has now grown for other body areas, said Hiroyuki Ota, director of the branch in Tokyo's posh Ginza district.

The trend is gathering pace as more Japanese men shed their resistance to wearing shorts, once considered appropriate only for children or the beach, but little else.

Amid record summer temperatures, even the Tokyo metropolitan government took its long-standing no-tie, no-jacket "Cool Biz" initiative a step further this year, promoting lighter clothing to help staff battle the heat and save energy.

Summers have grown increasingly torrid in recent years, with temperatures reaching an all-time high ‌of ⁠41.8 degrees Celsius (107.24 degrees Fahrenheit) last year.

Japan's largest beauty-focused online booking and review platform, Hot Pepper Beauty, said just over a quarter of the men it surveyed this year had been treated for lower-leg hair removal over the past 12 months.

That kind of demand makes it tougher to score an appointment at the Ginza clinic, Ota said, adding, "It was rare for appointment slots to fill up completely when the clinic first opened 11 years ago."

(Reporting by Hina Suzuki, Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Clarence Fernandez)