Daylight-Saving Pantomime Returns

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Reform overshadows daylight-saving bill
For the third time in 10 years, a move to introduce daylight-saving time to Japan is being shelved. The problem this time was the Diet's preoccupation with postal privatization. The bill will likely be submitted to the next Diet session, sources said.

[Mulboyne]

Yonhap via Yahoo: S. Korean, Japanese Biz Groups Agree to Propose 'Summer Time'

South Korean and Japanese business organizations agreed Monday to propose that their governments jointly introduce a system of daylight saving time or "summer time," aimed at helping boost tourism business cooperation between the two nations..."The summer time system is expected to allow people to spend more time on leisure," the statement reads. "If adopted, the joint enforcement of the summer time system between South Korea and Japan will positively affect the tourism industry." Currently, 86 countries have adopted the summer time system. Among members of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, South Korea and Japan are the only nations that have not implemented the system.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Panel to call for daylight saving time

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, the government's key policymaking body, will likely propose that the government begin studying the early introduction of a daylight saving system as part of measures to combat global warming, it was learned Friday. The panel, chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will compile the Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform for 2007 in mid-June. According to a draft for the policies, the panel will place top priority on environmental problems, including the system to advance the clock by one hour, for instance, during the summer. This will be the first time the panel has stated its intention to introduce the daylight saving system in its basic policies...more...

[Captain Japan]

Hardworking Japan debates Daylight Saving Time
Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - The land of the rising sun is considering Daylight Saving Time to conserve energy, curb greenhouse gas emissions and help fight global warming, but critics say the move might merely promote "daylight slaving."

Japan's government estimates that putting the clocks forward an hour in April and back again in late October could reduce nationwide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by roughly 1.4 million tons a year.

But that's only about 0.1 percent of the 1.29 billion tons of CO2 that Japan belched out in 2005, according to the latest government data.

Instead, critics say the proposal, contained in a government outline of economic policies unveiled this month, is a thinly veiled attempt to squeeze more working hours out of employees.

Besides a work ethic that frowns on going home while it's still light outside, Japan has no laws limiting the length of the working week.

"Rather than going home at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., people could well end up working an extra hour each day," said Tetsuo Kamota of the Labor Lawyers Association of Japan, dismissing official assurances that it wants to make sure overtime doesn't grow...more...

[Mulboyne]

The deputy director of the Japanese Society of Sleep Research fears daylight saving would turn Japan into a nation of zombies:

Asahi: Say no to daylight saving time -- and sleep on it

Daylight saving time, or DST, is the practice of advancing clocks ahead one hour in the spring, and back by one hour in the fall. While Japan does not follow this system at present, it has been recommended by some experts as a way to save energy and thus fight global warming--one of the pressing themes of this month's Group of Eight summit at Lake Toyako in Hokkaido. Yet, recent research shows that DST could cause many problems. Some reports say that, contrary to expectations, the practice leads to higher energy consumption. The shift in time may also lead to insomnia or other sleep disorders and resulting daytime drowsiness because the body cannot adjust easily to the time lag. Some researchers also point out that DST might result in an increase in traffic accidents caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel. I urge the authorities to carefully examine the scientific data before deciding on the switch. Since the 1970s, it has been known that DST affects the body's biological clock and sleep patterns.

Further, recent German and Finnish studies showed the practice has specific impact on daily life. It takes about three weeks from the time DST starts in the spring for circadian rhythms to adjust to the hour difference, the researchers found. When the clocks are turned forward one hour, most people lose an hour of sleep per night in the first weeks. Meanwhile, the number of hours of sleep the average person in Japan has been getting in recent years has dropped by nearly an hour from what it used to be 45 years ago, a 2005 survey by the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) and other reports found. On weekdays, the average Japanese sleeps 7 hours and 22 minutes, about one hour less than the average American and European resident. So as it is, many Japanese are already getting less sleep than they need. Introducing DST could deprive them of another hour of precious sleep. If that happens, it could be the last blow for those at risk of developing a sleep disorder.

I also worry about the negative effects DST could have on weak elderly people and children. With DST in place, people in western Japan would be going to bed before the day's heat has dissipated. And we all know how hard it is to fall asleep when it's hot. I wonder if old people and children can withstand poor sleep caused by the one-hour time lag? A U.S. survey of parents of children with sleeping disorders found that more than 60 percent felt the start of DST had affected their children's sleep. This point also needs to be carefully examined.

Yet, even if daylight saving time has a negative effect on health, if it has greater benefits in terms of energy conservation, the government may deem it worthwhile, even though it means turning a blind eye to its problems. However, when researchers, including Matthew Kotchen, an assistant economics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, surveyed 7 million households in the U.S. state of Indiana, they found that electricity use rose by 1 to 4 percent after DST began. This was because the reduced cost of lighting was more than offset by higher air-conditioning costs on hot afternoons and heating costs on cool mornings, the researchers concluded.

Likewise, a simulation by Yoshiyuki Shimoda, a professor of engineering at Osaka University, and others showed that while lighting costs at home would go down by 0.02 percent, cooling and heating costs would rise by 0.15 percent. Traditionally, it was believed that most of the energy savings through the introduction of DST would be in the home. The government needs to conduct more research to confirm whether this is still true. Is the practice really effective in cutting energy consumption? If the objective is to conserve energy, an alternative approach would be to limit our round-the-clock lifestyles by regulating the late-night operation of convenience stores and other such businesses. That would cut lighting and other energy usage--but without negative effects on sleep patterns.

I am chair of a special committee on DST set up by the Japanese Society of Sleep Research. Our group has been studying the effects that DST has on sleep. Our final report, released early this month, concluded that the system is more harmful than it is helpful. Daylight saving time affects all of us. We should not rush into this decision without further debate. I urge the government to examine all the diverse data and research results and to open up discussions to include participation by the public.

[Buraku]

Daylight saving 'ups heart attack risk'

http://news.theage.com.au/world/daylight-saving-ups-heart-attack-risk-20081125-6gwx.html

[sublight]

Start a rumor that DST helps oyajis get erections and they'll have it approved by the end of the month.

[Greji]

Start a rumor that DST helps oyajis get erections and they'll have it approved by the end of the month.

Does it help? My viagra account is getting out of hand....

[FG Lurker]

A lot of Japanese don't understand DST at all. Many think that the clocks stay the same but everyone just does things an hour earlier.

Japanese told to go to bed an hour early to cut carbon emissions
Telegraph.co.uk, June 24, 2010

The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions.

The Morning Challenge campaign, unveiled by the Environment Ministry, is based on the premise that swapping late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could significantly cut the nation's carbon footprint.

(Full Story)

It looks like the Japanese government is also pretty confused about how daylight savings is supposed to work.

[Tsuru]

My MIL already wakes up at 3AM every day of spring/summer to take care of the chrysantemums.... madness!

Can't they just shift Japan one or two timezones east to avoid all the DST "confusiton"?

[sublight]

Does it help? My viagra account is getting out of hand....

Well, you get morning wood an hour earlier.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Does it help? My viagra account is getting out of hand....

Jeez, you're lucky...when I count my Viagra, I get out my hand.

[Yokohammer]

Jeez, you're lucky...when I count my Viagra, I get out my hand.

I bet the Pfizer people never imagined their product would be used as a wank-aid.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I bet the Pfizer people never imagined their product would be used as a wank-aid.

It was originally supposed to stop heart attacks...yet every time I take one, I almost get a heart attack.

Mind you, I wish it wasn't a wank aid....I'd much rather be using it with SJ's mother-in-law.