Japan divided over 24-hour convenience store operations

Thursday 03rd July, 07:31 AM JST

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isthistheend at 11:56 PM JST - 3rd July

Right. Convini's are not just for one thing or the other, but an important survival outlet sometimes. Close them up and lots of things worse could develop.How about turning off the lights when no customers are in the store, or having the customers bring flashlights? (just joking, of course).
medievaltimes at 12:31 AM JST - 4th July

How about reducing the number of pachinko parlors nation-wide by 10%. The savings would be enormous.
ElectricJapan at 05:10 PM JST - 4th July

These things make this country unique. It would be an odditie not to see them in Japan. Bland street corners and weathered looking areas.
pointofview at 09:00 AM JST - 7th July

We need convenience stores around the clock, hence the word "convenience."

If its an environmental issue than as one comment suggested, reduce the number of pachinko joints. Or, howabout introducing central airconditioning instead of stashing 3 or 4 of the typical units in a house. Wouldnt that be more efficient?
cleo at 10:06 AM JST - 7th July

howabout introducing central airconditioning instead of stashing 3 or 4 of the typical units in a house. Wouldnt that be more efficient?

How is heating/air conditioning a whole house more efficient than just the room(s) people are using? More comfortable, more convenient I can understand, but more efficient?
Hoolie at 11:21 AM JST - 7th July

Mamoru Takahashi, a senior researcher at the Mitsubishi Research Institute, says goods are delivered to convenience stores at night when there is little road traffic so an end to their midnight business activities could aggravate traffic congestion during the day and cause a new environmental problem.

Wow, that's a load - I drive around those delivery trucks at all hours of the day.

Some companies favor the proposal. One official with a major food processor said, ‘‘If stores end their round-the-clock business, we would have to make deliveries to convenience stores only twice a day whereas we do that three times now. We would be able to end our night shift, for which we are short of workers.’’

There we are - they deliver at night - and a couple more times during the day.

If they implement this in Tokyo, all that's going to happen is those on the outskirts will drive into Saitama, Chiba or Kanagawa - thoroughly defeating the purpose by increasing consumption of gasoline (not to mention throwing a few more drunk drivers on the roads...)

Studies done have proven that there is little impact on power consumption if convenience stores shut down during the night, as the main power draw is the coolers (which will be on all night) and the air conditioners, which will consume additional power in the mornings taking the heat/chill off the interior of the store.

I haven't seen any such study for larger stores like Don Quixote, but I would ather, given larger amount of lighting and signage that there might be some small savings there.

From a sociological point of view, they would be better off restricting alcohol sales in 24 hour venues.
pointofview at 02:42 PM JST - 7th July

How is heating/air conditioning a whole house more efficient than just the room(s) people are using? More comfortable, more convenient I can understand, but more efficient?

Close the vent. Also, far less materials and energy required.
cleo at 04:24 PM JST - 7th July

What vent?

How does it take 'far less materials and energy' to heat/cool a whole house than it does to heat/cool one or two rooms?
wilbur at 06:36 PM JST - 7th July

too bad they don't put as much effort into something really important like pensions or the homeless...i mean really, its JUST A CONVENIENCE STORE...get over it
pointofview at 06:40 PM JST - 7th July

too bad they don't put as much effort into something really important like pensions or the homeless...i mean really, its JUST A CONVENIENCE STORE...get over it

I totally agree. It`s a stupid issue.
wilbur at 06:53 PM JST - 7th July

ElectricJapan at 05:10 PM JST - 4th July

These things make this country unique. It would be an odditie not to see them in Japan. Bland street corners and weathered looking areas.

it's not possible for japan to get more bland and weathered than it already looks, is it ?
Himajin at 09:08 AM JST - 8th July

Cleo,actually the Japanese system of an air con for each room is inefficient. For each aircon you have, you have one compressor...more compressors, more energy consumption. Another factor is that you can cool one or two rooms but the losses are great because you have rooms or halls right next door to heated/cooled rooms which means the units have to work at peak longer to compensate for heat/cool transfer. You're cooling a room to 25 when the room next door is 35, and the opposite in the winter. We have central air/heat in this house, it costs less to heat or cool the whole house than it did those two or three rooms in our old house because you have less loss as temperature is uniform throughout, and you have one unit instead of 3 running.
sf2k at 10:37 AM JST - 8th July

@usaexpat

how are you going to drive around looking for a combini when oil and gas prices are continually increasing? What's your price point on giving up that idea? You might want to start thinking about that now.

the real test of climate change will be not in reducing hours so much, but in the winter when heating kerosene prices will spike. Only then with an introduction of insulation, thus reducing kerosene requirements in drafty homes, will produce meaningful climate change reductions.

the end of 24 hour operations is just a sign of the energy times. The savings on trucking fuel will make it worth it until they can devise a means of more rail food transport.

Don't forget, Japan imports more than 90% of it's energy. So reduced hours is a reasonable approach.
usaexpat at 12:22 AM JST - 9th July

sf2k sure fuel prices are a pinch but when I work late and come home to find that we are out of toilet paper or whatever I will run out to buy it rather than not wiping my a**. My point was that there is a demand for these operations and ther are certainly better places to cut emmissions than limiting convenience store hours. The only cuts in energy use to be had is the lighting as the coolers and most likely the air or heat will still continue to run. I don't believe all the gloom and doom either on global warming or that there is no place when energy prices will level off. People need to keep their heads and quit the panic driven poorly thought out "solutions"
onime at 12:43 AM JST - 10th July

How about reducing the number of pachinko parlors nation-wide by 10%. The savings would be enormous.

I was thinking a similar thing. If you are going to close convenience stores early, what about all the other 24h venues, like pachinko parlors.