Someone once likened a businessman's necktie to a samurai sword. The person claimed that both items give the wearer dignity and sharpness, noting also that even if the businessman is somewhat shabbily dressed, he would look more presentable in a tie, as would a samurai wearing his sword.

When some people went to knot their ties as usual on Friday morning, some may have stopped when they remembered it was the first day of the "cool biz" season.

This year, Cabinet members donned kariyushi--an open-necked summer shirt indigenous to Okinawa Prefecture.

This is already the third year since the cool biz concept was introduced by the government to make the nation's workers dress cooler for the muggy Japanese summer. In the first year, people weren't exactly sure what this cool biz business was all about.

Men did away with their ties for starters, but were often ridiculed for looking dishevelled as if they had stayed out all night.

Advice from the fashion industry was more forthcoming last year. This year, department stores are said to be pushing cuff links or pins for a better look. A new fashion trend becomes a convention once enough people have subscribed to it.

It takes courage to be the first one to break from convention, whereas it's no big deal if everyone does it together.

Some people scoff at this herd mentality, but it is a fact that the office air conditioner can be set at a higher temperature if workers are clad in cool open-neck shirts.

According to Environment Ministry estimates, the nation's CO2 emissions were down last summer by the equivalent of one month's emissions from about 2.5 million households, thanks to the cool biz campaign.

Hot, muggy summers have always tormented Japanese. In the 14th century, the monk Yoshida Kenko wrote in his "Tsurezuregusa" (Essays in Idleness): "Homes should be built to be comfortable in summer."

つれづれぐさ 【徒然草】 随筆。二巻。吉田兼好著。1330～31年頃成立（異説あり）。随想・見聞などを、著者の感興のおもむくままに記したもの。無常観に基づく、著者の人生観・美意識などがうかがえ、「枕草子」と並ぶ随筆文学の傑作とされる。

Winters must have been bitterly cold back then, but he hated the heat of summer with a passion, and insisted people could manage to endure the coldness of winters. Weather experts say this summer could bring scorching temperatures and a drought because of the La Nina phenomenon characterized by cold sea surface temperatures around the Equator.

This summer, we should all forget the classic samurai virtue of strained endurance, and do whatever we can to stop global warming from getting worse.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 1(IHT/Asahi: June 2,2007)