Clocks show standard time (left) and daylight-saving time in Sapporo on June 20.

According to the Sapporo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the trial, in which work starts and ends one hour earlier, will run until July 31.

Around 12,000 people at some 470 firms and organizations are taking part, double the number from last year, the chamber said.

Each government office or company sets its working hours to daylight-saving time for at least one week during the period without actually changing the clock.

The hours during which Sapporo City Hall handles requests and applications from the public are not affected by the experiment.

The chamber hopes extra leisure time after work will stimulate consumer spending in the prefecture, where daylight hours in summer are one hour longer than in Tokyo.

Some Hokkaido companies have expressed opposition to a regional introduction of the measure because it makes contacting head offices in Tokyo or other parts of the nation, where the time remains the same, difficult.

The Japan Times Weekly: June 25, 2005
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