While the government target of cutting power consumption by 15 percent will likely be achieved this summer, workers and small businesses are paying the price.
While the government target of cutting power consumption by 15 percent will likely be achieved this summer, workers and small businesses are paying the price.
Companies and households have been trying to reduce electricity use since the government issued a power-saving order on July 1 in the regions served by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co.
At Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Yajima Plant in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, which assembles the Legacy model, the peak power consumption has been reduced well beyond the 15 percent target.
Electricity use is monitored with a personal computer, and co-generation equipment, which supplies electricity and heat, is in full operation.
Air-conditioner temperatures were set at 29 degrees earlier in the summer, and films were laid on windows to shield sunlight.
Yajima Plant operates on Saturdays and Sundays between July and August as part of industry-wide efforts to lower peak electricity consumption on weekdays. Automakers take days off Thursdays and Fridays.
Other companies have also changed work schedules and work styles.
Softbank Corp. has allowed employees to work in T-shirts and jeans.
"It's easy to move around and comfortable to work," a female employee said.
Employees use Apple iPads, charged in advance, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., shutting down personal computers.
Companies in western Japan are also conserving electricity.
Sharp Corp. began opening its head office in Osaka and other facilities an hour earlier at 8 a.m. in July.
"Trains are crowded even early in the morning," a male employee said. "The society at large is moving (to save electricity)."
The beverage industry has voluntarily stopped cooling vending machines for five to six hours a day. But sales are believed to have increased slightly in July.
"Sales from vending machines inside buildings, where it is hot, have been increasing," Asahi Soft Drinks Co. President Shiro Kikuchi said.
But changes in work schedules are taking a toll on workers and subcontractors.
Honda Motor Co.'s Saitama Factory in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, has changed to a three-shift schedule from two shifts to disperse electricity consumption.
"My body clock has been out of order all the time," a male worker complained. "I have been constantly feeling sluggish and sleepy."
A food factory where his wife works has also been operating Saturdays and Sundays, and their daughter, a fourth-grader in elementary school, is sometimes left alone at home.
"I cannot stand this unless I know it ends in September," he said.
An auto parts factory in Fukuoka Prefecture is operating on Thursdays and Fridays, in addition to Saturdays and Sundays, because it deals with clients outside the auto industry.
"I want to give employees days off to make up for lost weekends and consecutive holidays in autumn," the operator said.
An employee at a transportation company in Gifu Prefecture had to work over a weekend in July on short notice to carry parts to an auto factory.
A day-care center near Daihatsu Motor Co.'s factory in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, began accepting children on Sundays in July.
About 10 children are left there on Sundays, with some having stayed weekdays too.
"It is important for children to have a good rest at home too," the director said.