Restaurants, retailers and language schools have been rolling out business strategies and special offers aimed at attracting people whose workplaces have introduced in-house daylight saving time programs.
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Aloha shirts ok as Japan seeks to beat heat
Neckties are out and casual shirts in, even aloha shirts, as Japanese businessmen shed their conservative dress and stodgy image to save electricity.
Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami set off an ongoing nuclear crisis at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, meaning that the eastern part of the country faces a severe power shortage as it heads into the sizzling summer months.
Spearheading efforts to stay cool in the office, the Environment Ministry launched its “Super Cool Biz” campaign on Wednesday, a stepped-up version of summer dress-down movements carried out over the past few years.
“As we are lacking electricity, the Japanese government is asking for a 15 percent reduction in electricity consumption,” said Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto.
“This is not just about surviving this summer, but is a big turning point for changing the way Japanese live and our lifestyle.”
Workers at the ministry turned to casual attire, coming in tieless and wearing short-sleeved shirts, including brightly-colored Hawaiian-style shirts. Sneakers, blue jeans and t-shirts are all allowed as well.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant, has said it expects summer electricity demand in eastern Japan to be 55 million kilowatts, with the supply tight.
Electricity use soars in the steamy summers, when temperatures can rise as high as 40 C (104 F).
Public response to the campaign was mixed, with some lauding it for conservation efforts while others said care still had to be taken for appearances.
“I think people should choose what they wear, because you can look sloppy,” said Yasuko Yokoyama, a 48-year-old housewife.
Businesses are adopting their own measures, with some shifting workdays to the weekend, when demand will be lower, setting thermostats higher, and keeping lighting to a minimum.
KDDI, one of Japan’s largest communications firms, will allow employees to leave early and work from home from June 27. It already is cutting down on lighting use and has set thermostats at 28 C (82.4 F)
“Up to now, Japanese had stereotypical habits of working from Monday to Friday, 9 to 5,” said Kou Iizawa, a manager at the company.
“Though we have had this unfortunate incident, it is acting as a catalyst to change our work habits. I hope we will become as progressive as Western countries — and we should enjoy our leisure hours more.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/us-japan-cool-idUSTRE7512SC20110602
Foreign refugees pitch in to help
Volunteers head north to assist tsunami victims
Myo Myint Swe, a 42-year-old refugee from Myanmar, said that since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, he wanted to help those in the Tohoku region affected by the devastation.
A 20-year resident of Japan who received his refugee status in 2005, Myo said he knows how difficult it is to be forced into fleeing home and seeking refuge elsewhere, but felt that in some ways the situation for people in Tohoku could be worse.
“We’re refugees because of human-made disasters. In the case of the people in (the) Tohoku region, they are evacuees of natural disasters. But while we have someone to cast our anger at, people in Tohoku, they lost their families and homes but don’t have anyone to blame because it’s an act of nature,” he said. “It may sound a bit strange coming from me, but I really feel sorry for them.”
Myo was among a group of volunteers that included other refugees as well as foreign exchange students and Japanese nationals who took part in a Tohoku disaster relief project organized by the Japan Association for Refugees, a nonprofit organization supporting asylum seekers.
According to JAR spokeswoman Mihoko Kashima, the volunteer project that began in late April and will continue until the end of this month was inspired by the voices of refugees like Myo who said they wanted to help people in Tohoku. So far, more than 70 people have traveled to Rikuzentakata through the program, including about seven refugees, she said.
Chinese exodus hurts industries dependent on foreign trainees, interns
According to the Japan Textile Federation, about 40,000 foreign interns, 99 percent of whom were from China, worked at textile-related companies before the March 11 quake. Many returned to China after the disasters, creating big difficulties for the companies.
At a sewing plant in Tokyo, four interns returned to China in late April, leaving the plant with none. There were five before the quake.
While the plant continues to operate with its 21 Japanese workers, it has seen a 30-percent decrease in finished women’s clothing.
Under such circumstances, some companies are moving away from their dependence on foreign interns.
For example, a sewing company in the Tohoku region that serves as a subcontractor for a major apparel company had 29 Chinese women working as interns before the quake.
After the disaster, all 29 eventually returned to China, although only 10 had completed their contract periods.
The company president tried to convince the 19 who still had time remaining on their contract periods that they were safe from the radiation of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. But some refused to work.
In late March, they all returned to their homeland. The president now fears clients will lose trust in the company if it has to cancel orders. Sales in the month after the quake have decreased by about 10 million yen ($122,000).
The president is now thinking about using only Japanese workers.
“If the expenses for (going to China to) recruit and train are added to their wages, Chinese interns now cost more than Japanese workers,” the president said. “I intend to do away with accepting interns over the next three to five years.”
A Chinese who has helped bring interns to Japan said parents were hesitant about sending their only child to a Japan that is no longer considered a safe neighbor.
While the number of interns and students accepted in the past was an attempt to make up for the lack of labor and Japanese students due to the declining birth rate and aging population, it now appears the trend to avoid Japan by foreigners could be a long-term one.
That will hurt other industries, such as restaurants and convenience stores that depend on Chinese workers.
For example, the ramen chain Hidakaya had about 1,400 part-time workers at its 250 or so branches throughout Japan. About 90 percent of those workers were Chinese.
About 700 of them have returned to China, forcing about 50 Hidakaya branches to shorten business hours by an average four hours.
According to officials of Cerebrix Corp., which dispatches part-time workers to convenience stores, about 3,000 Chinese worked at about 1,000 stores in six Tokyo wards before the quake. Almost all have returned to China after the disasters, and most of those stores had to scramble through late March to find replacement workers.
According to the Justice Ministry, about 470,000 foreigners, including about 170,000 Chinese, left Japan between March 12 and April 1.
Japanese Workers Told To Dump Business Suits
Japanese workers have been told to swap starched suits for flimsy summer apparel so that offices can turn off their air conditioning systems amid concern over power shortages post-Fukushima.
Known as Super Cool Biz, the radical dress code will be put in place in June in an effort to reduce electricity consumption by 15 percent and relieve pressure on the country’s electricity grid.
Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March, electricity companies have dealt with increasing temperatures by scheduling power cuts in the north of the country and reopening coal and oil-fired power stations.
The new policy, introduced by the Ministry of Environment, will see offices kept at 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius), with even the most senior employees encouraged to don polo shirts, plain T-shirts and even Aloha shirts, along with jeans, sneakers and sandals.
Sportswear, shorts and beach shoes will not be allowed, according to a draft dress guide leaked to the Japanese media.
The ministry, perhaps aware that the new casual dress code may be met with resistance by senior workers, plans to organize a fashion show highlighting Super Cool Biz styles.
However, when the new policy was announced by Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet, only two officials — not including the prime minister — showed up in the new look summer outfits.
Summer Bonuses Going Up 4.17% At Big Firms
Summer bonuses at large companies are set to grow for a second straight year, according to the results of a first-round survey published Wednesday by the Japan Business Federation, or Nippon Keidanren.
The average agreed-on bonus was up 4.17% from last year to 809,604 yen, reflecting the economic recovery up until the March 11 earthquake.
Muslims file suit over antiterror investigations
A group of 14 Muslims has filed suit against the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments, demanding 154 million yen in compensation for violations of privacy and religious freedom after police antiterrorism documents containing their personal information were leaked onto the Internet.
New hot-weather office dress code OKs Hawaiian shirts, tees and jeans
Amid mixed reactions to the government’s “Super Cool Biz” dress code, which encourages men to wear Hawaiian shirts or jeans to the office as the temperature soars, retailers are set to cash in.
The Environment Ministry announced its fashion recommendations May 13, urging the nation’s work force to wear much lighter clothing to reduce the need for air conditioning and cut electricity demand.
During the campaign period that starts June 1, environment ministry employees can wear jeans (without holes), chinos, Hawaiian shirts and solid-color T-shirts to work.
The ministry is urging the private sector to follow suit and avert a possible shortage of electricity in the Kanto region, which is serviced by the embattled Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Many women welcomed the more-relaxed dress code, after shivering in past summers in overcooled offices and train cars where the temperatures are set to accommodate corporate soldiers in suits, but men had mixed responses.
A 55-year-old salaryman from Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, who is an accountant at a “conservative” distribution company, said he is uncomfortable with the new dress code.
“If you wear a Hawaiian shirt, it does not create the right atmosphere for work,” said the man, who was visiting the Shinbashi district in Tokyo. “I am old and will be comfortable only wearing the same kind of clothes I used to wear.”
A company worker, 36, said that he will adjust his outfits to suit the occasion.
“It will be OK to wear a Hawaiian shirt in the office,” he said. “But when I go to see clients, I will have to dress properly.”
The Cool Biz campaign was introduced in 2005 to save energy by setting office air conditioning to 28 degrees.
The new campaign period is two months longer, running from this month to the end of October.
Media starting to tally the economic effects of foreigner flight
News reports immediately following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant accident of panicked foreign residents lining up for the first flight home — in many cases advised to flee by their own governments — had the initial result of helping to feed the sense of angst among Japanese that has pervaded much of the postquake reporting.
Japan needs to draw foreign workers for quake recovery: panel chief
Japan needs to attract a large number of foreigners to help revive the farming and fishery industries in areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the head of a key reconstruction panel said Friday.
“It is important to draw human resources, including permanent foreign residents” to the hard-hit northeastern region of Tohoku, Makoto Iokibe, who chairs the Reconstruction Design Council, said at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club.