It is "generally accepted by society" that women wear high heels to work, as it is "necessary and appropriate", said Japan's health and labour minister Takumi Nemoto.

"Necessary" to wear high heels

Nemoto made the remarks during a Diet committee session, when he was asked to comment on a petition submitted by a group working against gender-based workplace discrimination, The Japan Times reported.

The petition, which received 18,800 signatures, called for the Japanese government to ban workplaces from requiring female job seekers and employees to wear high heels.

A member of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Kanako Otsuji, had posed the question to Nemoto, saying that forcing women to wear high heels at work is "outdated", and that it amounts to harassment.

However, Nemoto disagreed.

He said it is only an "abuse of power if a worker with an injured foot is forced (to wear high heels)".

Despite his comments, Emiko Takagai, a senior vice minister working for him, said in the same session she does not think women should be forced to wear high heels at work.

Modern foot-binding

Yumi Ishikawa, an actress and writer who leads the group that submitted the petition, also launched the #KuToo movement -- an amalgamation of #MeToo and the Japanese words for shoes (靴, kutsu) and pain (苦痛, kutsuu) -- that quickly gained support from thousands of people online.

She said the movement is meant to raise awareness about sexism, such as the view that appearances are more important for women at work than for men, according to The Japan Times.

Supporters of the movement also say forcing women to wear high heels is similar to modern-day foot-binding.

Elsewhere in the world

The call for workplaces to stop forcing women to wear high heels is not just limited to Japan.

In 2015, Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts protested the strict dress code at the Cannes Film Festival -- all women who attend the film screenings have to wear high heels -- by going barefoot.

In the same year, a British woman was sent home for refusing to wear two to four-inch heels at her job as a receptionist in finance firm PwC.

She then started an online petition that called for a law that prevents workplaces from forcing female employees to wear high heels.

The petition gathered more than 152,400 signatures, and led to Members of Parliament urging the government to outlaw the practice.

However, the British government rejected the calls for a change in law, saying that laws in place were already sufficient to deal with discrimination on gender grounds.

Top image adapted via vaaju.com & manamisinging.hatenablog.com