JAPAN TODAY


 

TOKYO —Companies on Tuesday showcased various ways for workers to spend their “Premium Friday,” with the rollout approaching of the government-business initiative to get workers to leave the office early on the last Friday of each month in a bid to curb long working hours and spur consumption.

At a campaign event in Tokyo, major convenience store operator Lawson Inc displayed bento boxes and sweets that will be sold at its outlets only on Premium Friday, while cosmetics company Kose Corp said it will propose specific makeup ideas.

“We want people to spend quality time with family and friends on Premium Friday,” Kunio Ishizuka, vice chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, said at the event. “We hope that the Japanese economy will regain vitality.”

Starting Friday, company and government workers are being encouraged to finish work around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. on the last Friday of each month so they can go out and spend more money on shopping, dining and other leisure activities.

The campaign—which took its cue from Black Friday in the United States, the annual shopping campaign just after Thanksgiving—is being led by the industry ministry, Keidanren and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At the event, Yasunori Aiba, vice president of Suntory Holdings Ltd, said 5,000 of its employees will leave work at 3 p.m. on Premium Fridays. “We hope that Premium Friday will take root and add a new richness to our lives.”

Department stores and restaurants are gearing up to offer discounts and special menus to customers from late Friday afternoon.

Odakyu Electric Railway Co said Tuesday it is offering a travel package allowing people to leave from Tokyo for the hot-spring town of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture late Friday afternoon.

Clothing retailer Adastria Co has coordinated Premium Friday fashions so families can go out in the evening after work in a relaxed style.

The government hopes that the Premium Friday campaign will boost efficiency and raise productivity in the workplace, amid concern about excessive working hours and “karoshi” deaths from overwork.

In a related move, the ruling parties decided Tuesday morning not to put a new budget to the vote in the House of Representatives this week to avoid marring the rollout of Premium Friday.

The decision was made because ongoing wrangling between the ruling and opposition camps on the lower house Budget Committee could prevent lawmakers from voting on it during a plenary session until late Friday afternoon, lawmakers said.

“In view of Premium Friday, we will deal with the matter without rushing (to seek passage),” Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said at a press conference after meeting with his counterpart from the LDP’s junior coalition partner, the Komeito party.

© KYODO