TOKYO —

Japan’s convenience store industry hopes to continue operating their stores around the clock, an industry leader said Monday, rejecting calls for shorter business hours to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

By maintaining 24-hour operations, the industry hope to ensure convenience to consumers, Japan Franchise Association Chairman Kiyoshi Hijikata said.

Hijikata, chairman of Circle K Sunkus Co, made the remarks after the city of Kyoto and the prefectures of Saitama and Kanagawa asked convenience store chains to voluntarily give up late-night store operations to support the country’s efforts to curb global warming.

The requests are unfair to convenience stores, Hijikata said, adding that the industry hopes to make its contribution to the fight against global warming through other means.

Seven-Eleven Japan Co President Toshiro Yamaguchi, speaking at the same news conference, said he is sorry the municipalities made the requests without prior talks.

But Seven-Eleven Japan, a unit of Seven & i Holdings Co, will actively participate in discussions with the municipalities from now, Yamaguchi said.

Yamaguchi said he is not sure whether the company should comply with the requests because it did not know the full details.

The association estimates that the industry would be able to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by only 4% if it cuts store operating hours by one-third to 16 hours.

This is because refrigerators would have be kept on during the hours when stores were closed and trucking operations now conducted at night would have to be shifted to daytime, worsening traffic congestion, the association said.

Thanks to their 24-hour operations, convenience stores create many jobs while contributing to community anticrime efforts, according to the association.

The association expects sales would slump some 20% if store operating hours were reduced to 16 hours.

JCN

Latest 15 of 20 Total Comments Show All

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  Kwaabish at 09:58 AM JST - 24th June

  "Enforce labor laws and make companies close up at 8pm."

  That wouldn't work for all of us, especially since we're working in a global market and have to deal with differences in time zones. In essence, some of our offices are open 24 hours on different shifts...

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  Zen_Builder at 10:01 AM JST - 24th June

  Agree with kwaabish.

  There are lots of people working shifts or late like restaurant owners, restaurant staff, Taxi drivers, Cops, construction workers, etc.

  Society has become active pretty much 24/7 these days.

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  thepro at 10:02 AM JST - 24th June

  Hells no. I like being able to go and buy snacks and booze at 3am.

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  Hughgarse at 10:36 AM JST - 24th June

  Why would they not just switch to a lower level of lighting before suggesting this?? daft gits...

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  javnation at 10:42 AM JST - 24th June

  If people stopped breathing that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions :) Maybe they ( prefectures )should suggest that. 20% may not sound like a large amount of business to loose, but when you are operating on very small margins it could be the difference between being in business and out of business. Then there would not be any convenience stores and that would cause people to have to drive to big supermarkets, as lets face it you have to travel you will buy for more than one day and then you will have to carry the goods by Taxi or car.

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  asdfghjkl at 11:37 AM JST - 24th June

  There are other things they should concentrate on than convenient stores hours. good/safe 24hour convenient stores one of the good things about Japan and has more benefits than the CO2 emmision reduction. They should try and find other ways to reduce CO2 first. Must be some idiot behind a desk just says things without thinking it through properly. All the peoples tax money go to fund these idiots!

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  takachan at 12:26 PM JST - 24th June

  japan would not be the same without 24-hour combinis. to save greenhouse emissions??!!! what a bunch of crock

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  Richard_III at 02:26 PM JST - 24th June

  One of the things I hate about going to Europe on business is that the shops close at silly hours and if you can't get any toothpaste you're pretty much buggered and left with using little flints of wood like some wild savage.

  I'm not surprised the killjoy environmentalists, many of whom have some misguided notion of returning the world to the early middle ages, would like forgetful travelling businessmen to have to use flints of wood to clean their teeth.

  Japan is a beacon to the civilised world through it's conbeni stores which open around the clock. We should fight tooth and nail for them to remain so.

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  Sarge at 02:48 PM JST - 24th June

  "shorter business hours"

  They can call conbinis with shorter business hours "fu-conbini."

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  Spidey at 03:25 PM JST - 24th June

  They can call conbinis with shorter business hours "fu-conbini."

  I think "fu-bini" rolls off the tongue a little better. Don't you think, Sarge?

  S

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  KingsT at 12:55 AM JST - 26th June

  Well, I'll not be surprised if those on the higher level are glamouring for shorter hours for the conveniece stores because the never been there in the broad day light, how much more in the late night. They knows higher places they do their shoppings. So convenience stores exist or not they never care. Please, leave convenience stoers alone. If you want green house look for another alternative. convenience stores are for the less privilaged people like us. Therefore, your plans may not easily for you Because we'll down it down anyday any time.

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  Wottock_Hunt at 10:26 PM JST - 26th June

  Send people home when the work day's done and you'll save a lot more energy than this, PLUS you might end up with an upturn in the birth rate. More children are conceived when the future father and mother can be awake in the same room for a bit.

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  dw at 02:26 AM JST - 27th June

  Electricty is actually cheaper at night since less are using it.. what do you think happens - do you think the Power stations just stop producing whilst we're all asleep ?

  Convenience stores,etc being open 24/7 is actually a part of Japan's society - long working hours mean that you often don't get to eat dinner until midnight - so where do you get it from at that time ?

  What I thnk is needed, however, is a limit to the number of hours a person can work per day (if they work in an environment that has a 24/7 operation) and a number of guaranteed rest days per month. That, is only sensible.

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  Kwaabish at 08:07 AM JST - 30th June

  "Send people home when the work day's done and you'll save a lot more energy than this, "

  Well then, I hope you wouldn't mind all the trains, buses and cabs stopping service at much earlier hours, plus restaurants, stores and other service industries too shutting down at dusk... The point is, "work days" are not clearly defined any more...

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  borscht at 06:58 PM JST - 30th June

  Closing convenience stores at an early hour would be an interesting experiment. Like Richard III mentioned, one of the things I kind of liked about Europe was that stores closed early in the evening and on Sundays (at least in Austria) so that people are forced to either plan their shopping or go without.

  And, since the stores are closed Sundays, people actually have to think of something else to do rather than walk around shopping malls. Maybe spend time with their families? (the horror!"

  Of course, all this isn't going to effect greenhouse gases a bit, but it will be an interesting experiment - will family murders go up or down?

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