Jury out on Japan’s work-from-home drive

Bloomberg

Tokyo’s commuters offered mixed reviews on Monday as the government launched a campaign to get more of them to work from home.
July 24 marks the first dry run of a “Telework Day” encouraging people to work remotely as the city gears up to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. Authorities are seeking ways to
make room for 920,000 spectators expected to visit Tokyo each day during the games.
“There’s no option but to ask regular commuters to stay at home rather than going out to work,” said Azuma Taguchi, a professor at Chuo University in Tokyo. The alternative, he added, was overcrowding that could cause accidents and delays.
With Tokyo’s population of close to 14 million sitting at the centre of the world’s largest conurbation of around 35 million people — many of whom commute to the city centre each day —the logistical challenge of moving everyone around will exceed that faced by London games organisers in 2012.
More than 750 companies and organisations were expected to take part in Monday’s practice run, according to the Telework Day website. NTT Data Corp., for example, expected 7,600 of its staff to avoid commuting in the peak 8 a.m -10 a.m. period.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs said it would take about a month to collect data on how many people took part in what is set to be an annual event. Meanwhile, Twitter users were divided over the results, with some saying trains were less crowded than usual and others saying they noticed no difference.
Taguchi, who has developed a simulator for transport use in the city during the Olympics, said at least 20 percent of commuters would need to take part in Telework Day for it to be effective.

More Leisure
Apart from relieving congestion during the games, the government hopes that it will result in more flexible work practices. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has spoken out in favour of changing the way the Japanese work, allowing people more time for family and leisure that could also bolster consumer spending.
“I think there may still be some reluctance among traditional Japanese companies who think it doesn’t fit their type of work,” said Jiro Akama, vice minister of internal affairs, in an interview last week. “But we want them to give telework a try.”

Shared Offices
Seeking to cater to those who can’t work from home, railway company Tokyu Corp. has opened a network of 70 shared office spaces and its demand is rising by 10 percent a year.
Customer Haruyuki Asada, 51, has been commuting almost two hours each way to his central Tokyo office for three decades. Now, when he has an afternoon meeting between the two, Asada spends the remainder of the day working at a desk in a shared office nearby, rather than returning to headquarters. He then heads straight home, avoiding overcrowded trains. “I sometimes get home while it’s still light,” Asada said.