Japanese Town Proposes Two-Hour Daily Limit on Smartphones (bbc.com) 49
A central Japanese town wants to limit smartphone use for all its 69,000 residents to two hours a day, in a move that has sparked intense debate on device addiction. From a report: The proposal, believed to be the first of its kind in Japan, is currently being debated by lawmakers after being submitted by Toyoake municipal government in Aichi earlier this week. Toyoake's mayor said the proposal -- which only applies outside of work and study -- would not be strictly enforced, but rather was meant to "encourage" residents to better manage their screen time.
There will be no penalties for breaking the rule, which will be passed in October if approved by lawmakers. "The two hour limit... is merely a guideline... to encourage citizens," Toyoake Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement. "This does not mean the city will limit its residents' rights or impose duties," he said.
There will be no penalties for breaking the rule, which will be passed in October if approved by lawmakers. "The two hour limit... is merely a guideline... to encourage citizens," Toyoake Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement. "This does not mean the city will limit its residents' rights or impose duties," he said.
Interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting that this would even be considered (even merely as an unenforced "suggestion" or "guideline") - this is not something that would fly in North America (and I would imagine in many other regions, like EU or Australia, China India, etc.) without fierce opposition, even if, again, just as a guideline.
I guess there must be a massive difference in culture in Japan if they find this proposal acceptable enough to even be proposed publicly.
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Not that shocking in an old folks district in Japan, the loss of face being caught using a phone for more than 2 hours would be devastating.
The old women patrol will be out looking for offenders to shame.
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Seriously?
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Do you not interact with any human beings?
OK, Boomer.
ChatGPT is where it's at.
Humans are soooo 20th Century!
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Well, yes.....mostly my friends and while we do all have phones, we don't have our noses stuck in them 24/7....
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What got me was...."Are there that many people that actually USE a cell phone up to and more than 2 hours a day?!?!
Seriously?
I use the telephone at home all day long, mostly talking to friends. When it's local friends, we also go out and do stuff in person every day.
I don't text at all, though.
The only apps on my phone are: Weather (want to go out!), Uber (let's go!), and Music players (go out and have tunes!). Oh, and occasionally I take a photo, but I don't post them. I don't have any social media apps or anything. And no games.
Re: Interesting (Score:2)
How were you able to have a profile here? On Slashdot? Not many people are familiar with the poligraph portion of the sign up process, you must have clicked on the "Accept" button without reading.
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I don't do social media either....no FB, twitter Tik......nothing.
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I don't know. I'm a fierce believer of "individual liberties rock" camp (and live in the U.S.) and I'm okay with this. Not because I agree with it, but because it really does not affect me if they're not going to enforce it, monitor it, or talk to me about it. The worst thing about it is that it's a waste of taxpayer money, but then when has congress stopped wasting our money?
Re:Interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm okay with this.
I'm not. All temperance movements eventually reach a point where someone comes along and decides they need teeth. If you want examples, look at history.
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lol. I hear you, but it won't happen in this case. A "with tooth" law limiting phone use to 2 hours infringes so broadly on individual freedoms that it'd get struck down by any supreme court in a heartbeat. I'm not worried about this one.
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this is not something that would fly in North America (and I would imagine in many other regions, like EU or Australia, China India, etc.)
Let alone the public opposition, there is zero chance if this being constitutional *as a law* in EU countries. Though, as generic health guidelines, they already exist.
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PSAs do tend to be treated as a bit of a punchline; but they are common enough; both outright state-sponsored ones and nominally-charitable private sector initiatives to make uns
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It's just a case of cultural misunderstanding. It is exactly as you say, a PSA, some health advice. It's not a law, it's not a rule, it's not a requirement. It's how advice is dispensed by local government in Japan.
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If you wanted to 1984 the hell out of it, you could limit it at the cell tower... each device's IP is only allowed 2 hours a day, and then block website and Facebook browsing, but still let phone calls go through.
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He asked one of his colleagues in Japan "What stops teenagers from getting beer from the machine?"
In a very matter of fact tone, the response was "Because they are not old enough."
Even after trying to clarify the question, the response was the same. It was almost absurd to think a teenager would break the drinking law.
If there was one place in the world where this may work,
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A coworker went to Japan for the first time recently[...]
YouTube is full of Japan-based Americans, telling of their experiences.
They talk of their new-found "freedom". Not so much about activities that are illegal in America but legal in Japan (although there are some), but something that can be perhaps summed up by a deep exhalation of relief. An escape from the politicisation of everything. A relaxed politeness, akin to the surprise felt by Marty McFly in Back to the Future, when he arrives in 1955 America and observes the service at a gas station, people tippi
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It's not that they don't think a teenager would break the law, it's that it's a convenient lie that everyone participates in so that they can have beer vending machines.
It's the same with gambling. Gambling in Japan is mostly illegal, but also extremely popular. Instead of winning money, you win prizes, which due to the way the law is worded is not technically gambling. The prizes are standardized, and next door to the pachinko parlour there is another, totally unrelated shop that exchanges them for a fixed
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Same with whale meat. It's all caught for "scientific purposes". They have to regularly check that it's still delicious, as part of their ecological efforts to monitor the marine environment.
The whole farce with the whaling "research" vessels is true. Not so sure about it being "delicious" though. I remember in one of my Japanese classes in University, the professor was asked if she had ever had whale meat. She actually had, just once. Basically, the way she described the trend is that those who still ate whale meat were mostly boomers and older. Younger people like her might try some at some point, basically just to try it once so they could say they had. Her personal experience of it is that
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We also have cigarette vending machines... nowadays you rarely find those anywhere people under 21 are allowed (unlike the lottery vending machines), but I don't know if that's because it didn't work (like, a kid picking up cigarettes for their parents didn't use t
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Re:Interesting (Score:4, Insightful)
[...]this is not something that would fly in North America[...]
Goodness knows why.
It's merely advice for the public. There's really no need for anyone to get their knickers in a twist.
If there is ever a suggestion that people behave in a certain way - It raises immediate teeth-clenching hackles.
If it is pointed out that it is only a guideline - Cries of it being "toothless".
Right now, in the Tokyo summer, there are occasional public announcements for people to stay indoors, if they can, to avoid getting heat stroke. It's mostly aimed at the elderly. The announcements probably do some good, I doubt they do any harm.
Why is there such an alergy to receiving advice from local government?
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I guess there must be a massive difference in culture in Japan...
LOL
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Toothless (Score:2)
If they are going to try, they may want to pick something easier first. Getting people to put down their crack pipes after two hours seems more achievable.
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Do or do not, there is no trite guideline that will make a difference.
I prefer having gentleman's agreement-like guidelines where possible, to a society in which everything is either forbidden or compulsory.
Huh? (Score:1)
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It's really not that hard to figure out and your not all that cute.
If the phone is unlocked and your face is buried in it that's usage.
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and your not all that cute.
His WHAT is not all that cute? At any rate, stop peeking at it.
Law Question (Score:2)
Does the US have any laws about behavior that specifies no enforcement and no penalties (and in this case, no means of determining when the law is broken and no definitions)?
Is this really something that's going to be a statute on the books, some kind of civil ordinance?
It seems like a weird kind of a "law".
Is it even legally possible to have a law like that here?
Sometimes governmemt bodies pass "resolutions" that are just random statements, usually celebrating someone of something with no actual effects at
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Is this really something that's going to be a statute on the books, some kind of civil ordinance?
This story is specifically about a municipality in Japan.
It seems like a weird kind of a "law".
It's more or less defined as a "guideline", precisely because it's not going to be enforced as a law.
This is more akin to, say, the health department issuing guidelines on, say, dietary (or similar) things - merely suggestions for best health, but otherwise unenforceable. I'm just find it interesting that it would be acceptable from a local municipal government as opposed to a more "federal" government body.
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Everyone can be found to be in violation of some regulation or law if the government chooses to look hard enough, so those resolutions aren't entirely symbolic.
That's not how laws work. Each law has to specify the penalty. If there is no penalty, it's not a law.
Why not... (Score:2)
tell the heroin users "There will be no penalties for breaking the rule"? It'd be just as effective.
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tell the heroin users "There will be no penalties for breaking the rule"? It'd be just as effective.
Perhaps.
But as TFA quotes the mayor as saying, "I hope this serves as an opportunity for each family to think about and discuss the time spent on smartphones as well as the time of day the devices are used."
There may be many that ignore the guideline. There will be some for which it is an opportunity to think - "Yes, actually I would like to spend more of my time reading, and less time slop-scrolling". They might then decide to make an effort to change their habits.
Albeit toothless, a net benefit to society
Phone addiction is a problem... (Score:2)
...that government CAN'T solve
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...that government CAN'T solve
As is the case with most societal problems.
Fortunately, we are not limited to the two options:
1. Solve problem
2. Do nothing
As in this case, the local government is taking a minor measure to *address* the problem, possibly making a small improvement.
Re: Phone addiction is a problem... (Score:2)
But if you go to that town in a remote island in Japan...
I wonder how they would react to the opposite (Score:2)
After two hours, the backup device is a Tablet. (Score:1)
Since most communication is not talking anymore....
A tablet will perform just as well.
Re: After two hours, the backup device is a Tablet (Score:2)
Cigarettes, Sugar... many things have gone this ro (Score:1)
A few decades earlier people would not have believed there could be any restrictions on cigarettes or sugar or guns or heroin or certain types of gambling & crypto etc which are either addictive or harmful or both
So, you are basically just old fashioned in advance if you thing smartphone addiction isn't going to be an issue. Ask your grandpa about these things and he will shout the same 'freedom' & 'over my dead body' stuff
Both good things and bad things always swing to extremes in any civilization