A central Japanese city wants to limit the use of smartphones for all its 69,000 inhabitants to two hours a day, in a step that has made a deep debate on the addiction of the device.
This proposal is considered to be the first proposal of its kind in Japan, currently a debate is being done by MPs after the Toyoke Municipal Government was submitted earlier this week.
The mayor of Tyoka stated that the proposal – which applies only to work and studies – would not be strictly applied, but to “encourage” the residents to better manage their screen time.
There will be no punishment to break the rule, which will be passed in October if approved by MPs.
“The two -hour limit … is only one guideline … to encourage citizens,” Toyoke Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement.
“This does not mean that the city will limit the rights of its inhabitants or implement duties,” he said,
“Rather, I hope it acts as an opportunity for each family, which serves as an opportunity to think and discuss the time of the use of equipment spent on the smartphone over time.”
He said that the use of smartphones during non-liver activities, such as watching videos while cooking or exercising, learning online and practicing for e-sport tournament, would not be counted for two hours, he said.
Koki said that he recognized that the smartphones were “useful and unavoidable” in daily life, but he said that some students were missing the school as they refused to leave the house without their phones.
The mayor said that adults also sleep or were sacrificing time with families to scroll on their phones and tablets.
According to the Japanese news outlet Mainichi, more than 120 residents called and emailed the local city officials during a counseling period, in which the majority (80%) were not happy about the proposal. However, some showed support for the bill.
The proposal suggests that primary school students should stop using equipment by 21:00 while old students and adults should stop by 22:00 pm.
According to the Japan Times, many people asked to broadcast their complaints on social media to broadcast their complaints about the proposal, a user said that you can not read or watch a film “in two hours.
