This archive report was first published on 24 July 2019.
Japan's famously diligent workers spend more hours at the office than employees in almost any other country. But to avoid traffic chaos at next year's Olympics, authorities have a message: stay home.
With hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend Olympic and Paralympic events in Tokyo during the 2020 Games, the city's already crowded commuter routes are set to become even more congested.
According to Kasumi Yamasaki, who oversees transport issues for the Games at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, officials are expecting up to 920,000 spectators and Olympic staff members a day.
Experts warn that this could result in lengthy delays and even dangerous crowding, with a 10 percent rise in passengers on trains and a 20 percent increase in express highway users.
On July 22, one year before the Games, Tokyo rolled out a month-long 'Telework Days' campaign, with government offices and private business committing to avoiding peak commuting hours.
Nearly 3,000 companies, including auto giant Toyota and trading house Sumitomo Corp., are taking part in the campaign, which aims to encourage a more easy-going approach in a country known for its cases of 'karoshi', or death from overwork.
"We are expecting... up to 920,000 spectators and Olympic staff members a day," said Kasumi Yamasaki, who oversees transport issues for the Games at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
"Concerns over the security of sensitive information, the difficulty of controlling working conditions, and the fact that corporate culture stresses the importance of face-to-face communications have deterred" some firms, said Kanako Nakayama, an internal affairs ministry official in charge of telework.
However, officials hope that the campaign will show firms that employees can actually 'work even more effectively' when they stay home, and that the Olympics can serve as a chance to break existing work habits.
"This is a chance to make telework a legacy of the Games that will take root" in Japanese society, Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said in a recent forum to promote flexible work.
