Dress code for men?!

In my office, all the men always wear suits (ties and jackets in the winter, not so much in the summer), including the CIR. He may wear something more casual if we're doing something tourism related that day, but he still wears suits on school visits.

At a prefectural office (県庁/kenchou), men almost always wear suits (including jackets and ties in the winter). Summer is "cool biz" time, so you can get away with a button-down short-sleeve collared business shirt (not a polo), or no jackets/ties at the very least. I've seen men wearing a business shirt with a sweater-vest (sometimes with a tie under the vest) in winter too, but they always kept a suit jacket over their chair/in their locker just in case they needed a formal look. I've heard that city/town hall offices, international associations, and other placements can be more casual (think polo shirts and chinos), but you can't go wrong with a suit no matter where you're placed imo. If men don't wear suits, they're often wearing something called sagyoufuku (作業服→†’link here), especially if they're in a division that has them do work outside. I've seen sooooo many men in that light turquoise getup shown in the link (seriously, almost exactly the same, except with a special version with the government office logo sewn on too). As a CIR/non-standard employee, though, you might not be allowed to wear them? I'm not sure on the rules for them because all the male CIRs I personally worked with on a regular basis (total of 6) all wore suits every day.

As for long hair, I've seen a lot of male CIRs with long hair, a few even past the shoulders. On that front, I think it'll be fine for you to do you, as long as you keep it clean/neat/tidy. Usually Japanese men don't/can't have long hair, but you can "gaijin smash" your way through that one. I know some men have had trouble with beards in the past (like, being told to shave it off, etc), though, so be warned there.

lmao the first time I saw my coworker wearing sagyofuku like that I was like wut... are you gonna go fix a telephone pole...? To me it looked like an electrician's uniform to me.

I've only seen semi-ELAI people wearing them here though (like the top 2 in my dept), all the other men including the other CIR usually wear regular suits

I'm not a man so this miiight not help but when I started out as CIR I had a ton of "weird" piercings (about 5 in each ear. a sideburn piercing, snug, forward helix, etc.) that I usually covered with my hair if I had to meet ELAI people or something. if it was just a normal day in the office, I'd put my hair up sometimes and expose my ears. I only got a comment ONCE from my first supervisor while I was there, but he was a sexist a.sshole so I ignored him and carried on. hue.

Just looked at some pictures of 作業着 and was like wow, V blue collar-esque but I have no problem wearing it if it helps me with fit in with my coworkers etc.

What do you wear underneath the jacket, like a collared shirt?

Can I like keep a full suit at work when I come so that I’m prepared if someone crazy swings by?