Tokyo Governor Suggests People Wear Turtlenecks as Northern Hemisphere Faces Winter Energy Crisis

People shop at a drugstore chain store in downtown Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 18, 2022. Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

The governor of Tokyo has suggested that people wear turtleneck sweaters to keep warm and reduce their electricity consumption this winter amid the global energy crisis.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said that turtlenecks have a thermal effect that can help people endure the winter, a season in which heating demand is expected to surge and power shortages may ensue along with sky-high bills.

“Warming the neck has a thermal effect. I’m wearing a turtleneck myself and wearing a scarf also keeps you warm. This will save electricity,” Koike said on Nov. 18, AFP reported.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (L) meets with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on the decision to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building on Nov. 17, 2022. Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images

She took inspiration from French President Emmanuel Macron, who last month, urged his people to wear turtlenecks at least four days a week to save electricity amid an energy crisis brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war and divestments in fossil fuel energy sources.

The two factors have resulted in global energy crisis, and prompted nations like France and Japan to come up with alternatives. Meanwhile, German state premier Winfried Kretschmann in August urged people to use washcloths to clean themselves to save power.

“You don’t have to shower all the time. The washcloth is also a useful invention,” Kretschmann, governor of Baden-Württemberg and member of the German Greens Party, said in an interview with Südwest Presse on Aug. 18.

Kretschmann said the situation has highlighted the need for Germany to reduce its reliance on Russia for gas, diversify its supply chains, and increase trading with democratic countries.

“We will continue to trade with countries that are not democratic, but we must not make ourselves dependent on them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida previously ordered to have nine nuclear reactors operational by winter to prevent power shortage. The reactors are expected to cover about 10 percent of the total energy consumption.

Japan had 50 operational power reactors prior to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, but suspended 46 of them after the disaster, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Of the 33 operable nuclear reactors, only 10 have been restarted after the disaster.

To boost energy security, Japan sought liquefied natural gas (LNG) cooperation from other nations, including Malaysia. Japan, and Thailand. On Nov. 18, Tokyo signed a memorandum of understanding to share LNG in the event of an emergency.

“It is very important for the [Japanese and Thai] governments to establish a relationship of cooperation, for example, to ensure smoother intercompany business operations,” Japan’s Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters.

Russia is Japan’s fifth-largest LNG supplier. The Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in Russia was one of Japan’s main LNG supply sources, with an annual capacity of 9.6 million tons.