Japanese ordered to take siestas to save power

[phantom power]

Faced with an energy crisis as the summer arrives in Japan, one prefecture is adopting a habit that was previously anathema to hard-working Japanese - the midday siesta.

The government of Gifu Prefecture is ordering its office staff to stop work for a couple of hours between 1pm and 4pm in order to reduce energy consumption.

Air conditioning in companies and city offices burns up a lot of energy during Japan's sweltering summer months - which are about to start with the imminent end of the rainy season. The nation is already struggling to meet demand for power as many of its nuclear power plants have been shut down for safety checks after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.

"We are very very worried about the amount of energy we are using and we have to cut back," Yuiichi Kumazaki, a senior official with the prefectural government, said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8581246/Japanese-ordered-to-take-siestas-to-save-power.html

[LiberalFighter]

1. What good would that really do unless the maintain the same working hours?

Maybe they should instead change their work hours to nite time. They could turn down the AC during the daytime.