No sweat: Japanese men turn to hair removal in scorching summer

Summer is the 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 on 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, while also eliminating the discomfort caused by sweating.

Facial hair removal was once the most sought-after treatment at Gorilla Clinic, which has 23 outlets nationwide, but demand has now grown for treatments on other parts of the body, 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 received lower-leg hair removal treatment over the past 12 months.

That demand has made it tougher to secure an appointment at the Ginza clinic, Ota said.

"It was rare for appointment slots to fill up completely when the clinic first opened 11 years ago," he added.