Gov't approves rule change to vary school summer holidays

By varying summer holidays, the government hopes to make it easier for parents to take paid leave at holiday times and spend more time with their children as a result.

But to fully realize this, companies will have to come up with ways to encourage employees to take paid holidays and government bodies will likely need to revise respective guidelines based on labor regulations.

Yeah. Right. Good luck with that.

A Japanese friend who works for a large JP auto company in the US shared an experience that shows just how difficult that will be:

A few days before a 3-day weekend (In the US, a handful of national holidays always take place on Mondays, to create 3-day weekends, rather than random single days off), her company's CEO sends out a message to all US-located employees that they can leave early on Friday at 3pm to get a head start on the holiday weekend.

Friday rolls around. The clock strikes three. She grabs her stuff. "Jaa mata!" Then, her Japanese manager says, "Where are you going? It's only 3 o-clock."

She replies, "The CEO said we could leave at 3pm. So, I made plans."

His response? "He said you could. But, it isn't required."

She then proceeds to get the stinkeye from him and all of her coworkers as she leaves. (Good girl, though. She left anyway. Bravo!)

But, that's the kind of crap employees of Japan Inc are up against. Managers that ignore even their own CEO's advice to relax, and their fellow employees going along with and even reinforcing the abuse.

The UK should perhaps look towards this one too.. since Travel expenses there take a Golden Week style Hike during the School Holidays, and further-more if Families try to take their Kids on vacation during School term time, (because its cheaper), then they, will, get fined.

Though I suspect, that Travel Companies will see this as an opportunity to make even more money (but I best say no more, in order to avoid giving them ideas, both here & there).

if the parents work holidays do not match they can't go anywhere

Summer camp? Parents can do their thang and kids can interact, learn skills and make pals...

But to fully realize this, companies will have to come up with ways to encourage employees to take paid holidays

Yeah, right! That would include not threatening them with being fired if they want to take annual leave. This is nothing but papertalk. Over 60% of employees are on yearly contracts. If they were to start taking their vacations they would be on their way to Hello Work to claim their unemployment insurance within a year.

if the parents work holidays do not match they can't go anywhere

A long time ago, in a land far, far away - this poster had summer holidays that lasted the summer. Beginning of June to beginning of September. Those were the days; summer romances, getting on your bicycles and heading to the beach, kicking the ball around until the parkie came to tell you off. Getting ready to see the blockbusters at the local cinema without worrying about spoilers. Listening to the chart countdown, taping your favorite tunes.

Sigh.

Summer holidays are the making of kids.

The guidelines will "allow" local BOEs to change things. That means it's not compulsory, therefore little will happen. Anyway, regions already do this - some Tohoku schools restart on August 18 and have a longer winter break. I haven't seen it make a damn bit of difference in crowding. The big issue is persuading companies to allow people to take vacation, period, and outside of Obon/Shogatsu for second.

Never been a fan of the April to Feb/March school year tbh especially for a country like Japan with 4 distinct seasons (bit different for SEA perhaps as March is a particularly hot month).

Bottom line is, if you want a 'proper' summer break (no home work nor extra curricular activities) the school year must/should start AFTER summer (Sept in the NH, Feb for southerners) and end BEFORE summer starts(June in the NH, Nov/Dec in the SH).

to set summer holidays at different times of the year

What a strange sentence. Summer holidays as their name indicates happen in summer. Anything outside of this period is not summer holidays anymore unless some old Japanese bureaucrats decided that summer somehow happens all the year. Which would be quite a shift in comparison to how the world has defined meteorological seasons so far. In short, the sentence above makes no sense.

And really I just see here the usual inefficient thinking of Japanese. I mean, instead of fixing the cause of a problem, they try instead foolishly to fix its consequence. I don't buy at all the measures presented here. They would get way more results if they decide to really regulate the way people are employed in this country. As far as I can see, they are just slaved from the time they enter the job market until they retire.

Oh those two-and-a-half-month summer holidays at my school in Switzerland ! The three weeks at Christmas and Easter ! What nostalgia (although I probably didn't realize it at the time !)

As it is, my kids only get four weeks in summer. They went back to school on Aug 24.

My eldest goes to JHS next year, and it sounds like the club she wants to join is six days a week all year. Rather than "babysitting", the parents we know are all dreading it. We'll have to arrange sleepovers with other club members for her if we want to take our other kids anywhere.

Good idea. I bet nothing changes though.

"The Japanese government on Friday approved a change to guidelines to allow local education boards to set summer holidays at different times of the year to encourage more family time in the chronically overworked country."

Hahaha... I think we all know that the result is going to be more 'free babysitting' and holidays being chopped into bits, with teachers being overworked as parents demand kids be in school longer, with excuses like "we have to improve test records". I guarantee this is just a sign off to going back to having Japan be the highest number of school hours in the world (excluding club and juku, which already push it past No 1 by far).

Make no mistake, it's not to decrease overtime by people at companies or have families spend more time together.

"But to fully realize this, companies will have to come up with ways to encourage employees to take paid holidays and government bodies will likely need to revise respective guidelines based on labor regulations."

Hahahaha! Right. Like encouraging them to increase pay and get that third arrow out of the ground at Abe's feet?

By varying summer holidays, the government hopes to make it easier for parents to take paid leave at holiday times and spend more time with their children as a result.

I'm ready to bet this won't change a damn thing.

As an example of a potential change, some days could be taken out of the beginning and the end of summer holiday period and moved to a weekend in autumn to create a long holiday period.

Or ! Summer holidays could be just as long, and new school holidays could be created.

Kids will keep on studying or do club during these periods, so it doesn't matter anyway.

Watch out....the local BOE's at the "advice" of the school's are going to abuse the hell out of this by cutting into the total number of days off under the guise of "improving" results at the expense of the children.

Sounds like a good idea now lets watch it get messed up.