Abe to Seek LDP’s Study on Summer Time for 2020 Games

August 7, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested Tuesday that he will instruct the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to consider the idea of introducing daylight saving time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics as a way to protect athletes and spectators from summer heat.

Abe unveiled the plan at a meeting with Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee of the Tokyo Games.

According to Mori, Abe told him that public attention on DST is very high. "As DST would affect the whole of people's lives, the LDP should fully listen to opinions of party members," Mori quoted Abe as saying.

Last month, Mori asked Abe to introduce DST during the 2020 Games, on the back of record-breaking heat wave this summer. Specifically, he proposed that clocks be advanced two hours.

Some are calling for implementing DST in 2019 on a trial basis to examine its effects.

Speaking to reporters, Toshiaki Endo, vice president of the organizing committee, who attended the Abe-Mori meeting, quoted Abe as saying that he will ask the LDP to discuss the matter first, before the cabinet.

Endo also suggested that the LDP will launch debates on DST before the "bon" holiday period in mid-August, saying that he plans to begin talks soon with LDP policy affairs chief Fumio Kishida about a framework for intraparty discussions.

Endo added that related legislation may be submitted to an extraordinary parliamentary session that is expected to be convened in autumn.

The meeting was also attended by sports minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Shunichi Suzuki, minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Many in the government have been cautious about introducing DST, due to concerns over possible health impacts and increases in overtime hours.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga reiterated his cautious view, saying, "DST will affect people's daily lives, and we have only two years to go to the 2020 Games." Jiji Press