[2] It had been expected to have a favorable effect to the movement to improve work style.
It is a campaign promoted by the Japanese business sector led by the Government of Japan and Japan Business Federation recommending to spend more enriched life every last Friday each month.
Since last Friday of a month end tends to be when salary has just been paid, it is advocating to spend the afternoon shopping or travelling.
The initiative is part of an attempt to address the punishingly long hours many Japanese are expected to work, prompted by the suicide of a 24-year-old employee at the advertising firm Dentsu who was doing more than 100 hours' overtime in the months before her death.
While some major companies, such as Honda, the drinks maker Suntory and the confectioner Morinaga, have adopted the optional scheme, others are less enthusiastic about the prospect of a mid-afternoon staff exodus.