As a native of the United States, I’m all too familiar with the controversy around daylight savings time. I’m not sure if anyone actually “loves” it, but it certainly seems like most people hate it. WebMD, the Internet’s favorite doctor, even has an article about the effects the time change has on people’s health, though they seem minimal.
Either way, one of my favorite things about living in Japan is not having to worry about that annual spring torture of moving the clocks ahead by an hour. With no daylight savings, you always know what time it is in Japan. Unfortunately, it looks like one Japanese politician has it out for me and my beauty sleep.
Governor Inose: Timelord?
Inose Naoki, Governor of Tokyo, suggested on Wednesday that Japan move their “standard time” ahead—by two hours!
As inhumane as that sounds to this already sleep-deprived, non-morning-person, there is at least a rather logical reason for his suggestion. In an effort to position more financial institutions in Japan, he wants to have the Tokyo Financial Markets opening first in the world. (Australia seems to have the number one spot now.)
Governor Inose’s suggestion will be taken into consideration in June as part of the government’s growth strategy.
It is interesting to note that Japanese standard time hasn’t changed in over 100 hundred years, since it was established in 1886.
Singapore, on the other hand, followed Malaysia in 1982, and unified their national standard time, in addition to moving it forward 30 minutes. The governor seems to have drawn inspiration from their change.
While I completely appreciate Governor Inose’s intentions, I’d like to suggest a compromise. Get the trains running 24-hours-a-day and just have the markets open early! That way I can stay in bed. In fact, I bet it would help improve national morale if we move the time back a little. Let everyone sleep in?
What do you say, Governor Inose? Please??
Source: Yahoo! Japan News
Images: Wikipedia (clock, Governor Inose)
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