Japan Airlines Will Rent You Clothes (Bizarre Sustainability Initiative)

This is a fantastic idea. The next logical steps would be to ban all obese passengers and decrease the serving size of food and beverage options by 50%.

I would be down especially on low cost carriers the price would be a wash.

Also the analysis is only accounting fuel. Lots of human labor too.

@ Christine -- If it's about sustainability, I would think that there's greater human labor with getting clothes to a specific hotel on a specific date, compared to just loading it onto a plane, no?

This made me laugh - I estimate not even 0.1% of passengers on flights will take this up.

Anyone doing this must be mad lol

The point is that there are ideas and corporations and governments are willing to spend money to see if it works. One reason why very little ever gets done in the US is exactly what’s being demonstrated here.
Too expensive, too inconvenient, not fashionable, virtue signaling…etc etc.

Okay. As long as nobody will laugh at pants that will be six inches too short!

And no business or first class seats either. Everyone stands like in 6:30 pm NYC Metro. All aboard!

Perhaps a step to far but I really miss the Westin Gear lending program where you could “rent” workout clothing and shoes for a nominal fee. Saved space in the bag and no need to pack sweaty clothes on the way back home.

The ideal use application for this would be longer trips involving numerous flights. A trip where you need 2+ weeks of clothing but don’t want to check/collect a bag 8 times. That being said, the “rules” and logistics seem too complicated to make that even work. You’d need clothing delivered and picked up at each hotel along the way

As with most sustainability initiatives, its main purpose is to virtue signal, not to provide any substantial benefit

A solution looking for a problem. The PR copy really got me on a double take: "...travelers landing in Japan on JAL will be able to rent clothes for their trip, meaning they just have to bring their underwear and socks."
So instead of dressing up to score a free upgrade, you rock up to check-in desk with no clothes on

Hey, for some people, it’d probably work!

Then again, for the rest of us, we may have to fly with the cargo 🙂

Lol. This is just like all other measures to lower the weight/size of luggage...they want to have more space to sell cargo. The plane will leave full, trust me.

If this was from an airline in Europe this would just be seen as a "greedy" or "stupid" idea but because it's Japan, a country that people, especially from the West over glorify and think that it can do no wrong, it is seen as "innovative" "groundbreaking" and "sustainable" lmao

FYI, Japan isn't in the US.

I could totally see this working for short business trips where a suit is necessary, but the business person or people want to travel with carry-on only and not worry about ironing clothes etc. Suits and shirt can be fairly precisely sized, too. Plus, it's a legitimate business expense. For casual clothes? I just don't see it working....

Rent the Runway. Founded 2009, USA. Proven concept. Thank you for playing.

You shouldn't review this without trying the product. Why not plan a review trip to Japan and take the product for a spin?

The cost of paying people to send clothes and wash them is too high for the benefit. Clothes tend to be light weight. Shoes are heavier but very personal items.

15 years ago, I carried books but no longer. Those were heavy.

Money could be saved if they provided efficient and cheap bus service into town and at a speed similar to taxis.

I watch Japanese news; etc on NHK World several times a week and this idea of clothes reuse in various ways has been a popular news feature over the last several months.
It is somewhat of a fashion trend in some circles in Japan to wear used clothes. At first the adjective describing it was just unique and new but now it is sustainable.
What I always wonder is why not just wear your clothes until they wear out? I probably have polo shirts in my closet I wear painting, gardening; etc older than you.
There is no money saved with these reused/repaired clothes you purchase.
And money earned has a carbon footprint. Even if you are as 100% Green as Hermit, the carbon footprint of money earned is based on the aggeragate of society.

Having used services like Rent the Runway to rent work appropriate clothes for a 5-day business conference (shipped directly to the hotel and returned directly from there) I'd say not hugely off base, but it's definitely niche.

Lol wasn't that long ago that Japan was vilified for taking American automotive jobs. And between now and then, they have seen the lost decades.

I think it is a creative idea.. I travel a lot and not taking clothes would be great.

Crazy as this sounds on the surface, it's actually not a terrible idea. Westin used to have a program where they would rent you workout clothes for $5. That included a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers (and socks that you could keep). I actually found it very convenient to not have to bring my sweaty gym sneakers in my bag. Everything was freshly laundered and clean (even the shoes).

This is a super ridiculous concept! I’m a normal sized American woman with double d bra size and I can NEVER find clothes in Japan. I don’t think this concept will work well at all for most American visitors

A fan of the Jack Reacher school of clothing. I'll sometimes buy some cheap clothes to tide me over in a country and discard when I leave.

Keeps me from needing to pack for every contingency.

better replace heavy Business Class seats with lighter Economy Class seats. That will give room for more people inside the aircraft and will save wight of more than two heavy suitcases per pax. Perfectly sustainable.
Even more sustainable: don't travel to Japan, stay in your hometown region.

A lot of sour comments here.
Given my experience of JAL, ANA and also Japan in general, the clothes that they'll rent you are probably going to be nicer than most of the clothes that people would bring on holidays.
What I want to know is whether they'll rent out Muumuu's for the often larger American audience

You’re probably right. Although I envision the rentals in flimsier, lighter packages than a typical checked suitcase and being shipped across Toyko not across the Pacific.

I am sure the clothes will be immaculate and beautifully presented. Also, sizes 0 to 4.

This is Japan's polite way of saying your American tourist style sucks and we don't want to look at your cargo shorts and tshirts anymore.

Ironic because when I was younger, I though Japanese tourists' style was so lame when they came to Hawaii.

I’d be up for traveling nude in the middle seat to save the carbon world. Superman can slip out of his stretchy bulging Lycra and sit on me to save weight and space and share a nice bubbling Pol Rogering.

Another little step towards "you will own nothing and be happy"....

The average person from the west have no clue what you are talking about lol, Japan is perfect in their eyes, meanwhile our country who was dirt poor 40 years ago after being pillaged by them is already way ahead of them in tech and entertainment industry

Just ridiculous for so many reasons.....
Enough said.

I actually think this is a nice concept. I find packing clothes to be a bit of a hassle when going on trips sometimes and this would reduce that. I also won't have to carry around as big or heavy of a suitcase. It also means I have more room for souvenirs. They should definitely make this an option for ZIPAIR passengers as those people might be more likely to use this service. I don't think it will appeal to everybody but it is great to have the option.

Not sure how sustainable it really is. Consider how one is getting the electricity to do the washings and the gas for the transportation, etc. However, rental models for many things that you could not even imagine is a thing in many Asian countries. The average American may not be their target market.

Weird, I thought Uniqlo was the budget-friendly-ramen-on-clothing emergency clothing depot. I guess staining rental clothes is more convenient.

Regarding sustainability: I don't see the eco-friendly tactic here, fuel gonna burn a lot of fuel either way. Is there a government credit they're claiming? That's the only thing I can reason.

You're forgetting that this is Japan with ta-q-bin service everywhere. The logistics of getting this delivered (cheaply) on-time without much fuss are already sorted out.

It's ridiculous, but not going to happen. They have to try though.

yeah, that's my concern. they'll be lovely, and they'll fit my wrist just fine...

How the hell is this actually contributing to sustainability lmao, Instead, why don't they tell their government to stop dumping nuclear waste into the ocean, now people here are panic buying. Meanwhile, western weebs who see Japan in rose-tinted glasses and think the country is perfect and could do no wrong keep defending it as "safe" as if they would drink water from that. Japan doesn't even teach its history to its citizens to save itself from major embarrassment, why would they even reveal just how "safe" this actually is? No wonder this country is always in decline whether it's tech, economy, or population.

I feel bad for Japan. They're slowly but surely sliding down the global totem pole. But not going to lie they deserve it. I'm guessing you're Korean so you definitely get it. They only get a pass worldwide for the bad crimes they committed in the past and their systemic unwillingness to admit it because they cozied up with the US. It feels like it's mainly the Westerners that romanticize Japan. One day, anime and manga will get old and Japan will just be this irrelevant country that was left in the dust by its neighbors in all aspects. I never really found anime and manga to be all that appealing anyways aside from a couple of games. And being technologically advanced with bullet trains, cars, taxis, cameras? China and Korea are overtaking you these days. Toyota and Honda aren't innovating like they used to and are now starting to fall behind everyone else in the increasingly important EV market. And their English skills are so poor even compared to other Asian countries. I admit there are plenty of great things that come from Japan (sushi, ramen, karate, JAL, ANA, Nintendo, Daiso). Not to mention the great sights to see there. But let's not pretend like the good completely outweighs the bad.