The continuing drive to conserve electricity following the Great East Japan Earthquake is expected to shorten the hours for Christmas illumination displays across the nation.
The continuing drive to conserve electricity following the Great East Japan Earthquake is expected to shorten the hours for Christmas illumination displays across the nation.
Although the winter's illumination at Tokyo Tower in Minato Ward uses 150,000 light bulbs, about 30,000 bulbs more than last year, the lights will be turned on at 4 p.m., seven hours later than in 2010, and will be turned off at midnight, said Nippon Television City Corp. operator of the tower.
The shortened hours will reduce power consumption by 42 percent from last year, according to the company.
Onlookers cheered during a Nov. 3 ceremony to light the display, which includes a 14-meter-high Christmas tree and a big Santa Claus doll. Thirteen percent of the electricity used is covered by solar power generation and surplus power accumulated during late-night hours.
Although Tokyo Electric Power Co. set no specific power reduction target rates in its service area, a Tokyo Tower representative said, "We will take special precautions in using electricity."
Power reduction targets were set for the summer after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
At another illumination project that decorates trees on a road along the Megurogawa river in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward with cherry-blossom-colored bulbs, the concept of "produce and consume energy locally" has been adopted.
Under the Megurogawa-Minna-no-Illumi 2011 project, waste oil will be collected from apartments and restaurants in the community to generate electricity independently.
During the event, which will run from Nov. 18 through Dec. 25, about 2,000 liters of waste oil will be required to keep 156,000 bulbs lit, according to the project organizer.
The campaign will also enlist the support of the Shinagawa Ward government, according to the group.
The Sendai Pageant of Starlight illumination project in Miyagi Prefecture's capital, which suffered damage in the March 11 quake, is expected to turn off the lights an hour earlier than in previous years.
The illumination project, which will run from Dec. 2 to Dec. 31, is expected to cover most of the main areas of the city.
Electricity usage cuts will be requested from next month in the service areas of Kansai Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co.
The Kobe Luminarie illumination event in Hyogo Prefecture, running from Dec. 1 to Dec. 12, will switch off the lights 30 minutes earlier than last year to 9 p.m. from Monday to Thursday.
The event was initially intended to pray for the souls of victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. The change will cut power consumption by about 6 percent from last year, the project organizer said.
The Canal City Hakata, a commercial facility in Fukuoka, also decided to shorten its light-up hours at the end of October to prepare for possible power shortages.