Japan wary of daylight saving time
Many oppose extending idea to whole country
SAPPORO, Japan - In the land of the rising sun, no one can seem to agree on when it does - rise, that is. Or set, for that matter.
This summer, thousands of people here on Hokkaido island switched to daylight saving time with the idea that they would start work an hour earlier and get off in time to enjoy the long summer evenings. But thousands of others here didn't make the switch. And to make things more quixotic, the rest of the country wasn't on board.
Proponents of daylight saving time want to expand their 5-year-old experiment to the rest of Japan. But results have been mixed.
One big problem is that people don't turn their clocks an hour ahead, as they do in the West, because daylight saving time is entirely voluntary. Hundreds of companies and government offices in Sapporo and elsewhere on Hokkaido participate in the program, but others ignore "summertime," as it's called here. Some banks follow it, but other institutions, such as public schools, don't.
"Everybody has different ideas about it," said Mitsuhito Araya, 52, director of the Sapporo general planning department.
Araya likes daylight saving time. He has no problem coming to work at 8 instead of 9. It's a "fresh experience," he said.
But he seldom leaves the office earlier because he finds it hard to go home before others do, not all of whom start an hour earlier. Every now and then, Araya says, he sneaks out at 5 p.m., as he did on a recent Thursday when he met his wife for a drink and dinner.
Others see summertime as a way to save energy and boost consumer spending. But in the Sapporo city government, only about 900 of the 12,000 employees switched to daylight saving time this year. That can complicate coordination among departments for meetings and other functions. Citizens have complained about public employees not being available late in the afternoon.
Part of the reason for the low participation may be summertime's history: Daylight saving time was introduced during the US occupation after World War II. Many Japanese associated it with defeat and longer work hours, and it was dropped in 1952. Since then, Japanese politicians have tried to revive the system. But people remain suspicious of the idea, wondering whether it is a plot by employers to wring extra work out of them without paying overtime.
Hokkaido would seem to be a suitable place for summertime hours. In Japan's northernmost island, the sun rises as early as 4:30 a.m. in the summer and doesn't set until nearly 15 hours later. The Japanese archipelago is rich in forests, parks, and coastlines for the enjoyment of those who can break away from work.
The Hokkaido Chamber of Commerce and Industry initiated the drive five years ago, with 221 companies and 6,000 workers participating that summer. Tens of thousands of people have since joined.
With the island's population among the fastest-shrinking in the nation, North Pacific Bank, the largest bank on the island, hoped that daylight saving time could prop up the island's economy.
Ken-ichi Honma, a professor of physiology at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, opposes daylight saving time, saying it contributes to sleep deprivation until people adjust to the change.
"Japanese people are always napping in trains and at meetings," Honma said, adding that sleeping problems can lead to behavioral issues. "They need sleep."
