Officials Tell Tokyo Workers To Stay Home In Fear Of Olympics Chaos

22nd July 2019 - by AFP

Officials also hope that promoting working from home during the Games will encourage a more easy-going approach in a country known for its cases of 'karoshi', or death from overwork

In this picture taken on July 18, 2019 people commute during a morning rush hour at Shinagawa station in Tokyo. Japan's workers spend more hours at the office than employees in almost any other country. But to avoid traffic chaos at next year's Olympics, authorities have a message: stay home. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Olympic and Paralympic events in Tokyo during the 2020 Games, putting additional strain on the city's already notoriously crowded commuter routes. PHOTO | AFP

SUMMARY

Japan's famously diligent workers spend more hours at the office than employees in almost any other country. But to avoid traffic chaos at next year's Olympics, authorities have a message: stay home
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Olympic and Paralympic events in Tokyo during the 2020 Games, putting additional strain on the city's already notoriously crowded commuter routes
Experts expect a 10 percent rise in passengers on trains, and a 20 percent increase in express highway users, which could result in lengthy delays and even dangerous crowding

TOKYO, Japan- Japan's famously diligent workers spend more hours at the office than employees in almost any other country. But to avoid traffic chaos at next year's Olympics, authorities have a message: stay home.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Olympic and Paralympic events in Tokyo during the 2020 Games, putting additional strain on the city's already notoriously crowded commuter routes.

Officials also hope that promoting working from home during the Games will encourage a more easy-going approach in a country known for its cases of 'karoshi', or death from overwork.

"We are expecting... up to 920,000 spectators and Olympic staff members a day," said Kasumi Yamasaki, who oversees transport issues for the Games at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Experts expect a 10 percent rise in passengers on trains, and a 20 percent increase in express highway users, which could result in lengthy delays and even dangerous crowding.

Railway operators are planning to put more trains into service but "railway transportation is already at full capacity during the rush hours from 7 to 9am", Yamasaki told AFP.

On July 22, one year before the Games, Tokyo rolled out a month-long "Telework Days" campaign, with government offices and private business committing to avoiding peak commuting hours.

Nearly 3,000 companies including auto giant Toyota and trading house Sumitomo Corp. are taking part.

The concept isn't entirely unfamiliar in Japan, where the government has been urging employers to be more flexible, hoping to help parents and others caring for elderly relatives to better balance their work and home responsibilities.

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The efforts have run up against various obstacles, said Kanako Nakayama, an internal affairs ministry official in charge of telework.

"Concerns over the security of sensitive information, the difficulty of controlling working conditions, and the fact that corporate culture stresses the importance of face-to-face communications have deterred" some firms, she told AFP.

Officials hope the campaign will show firms that employees can actually "work even more effectively" when they stay home, she added.