*to Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Κυνόσαργες

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

The Darkness

Yes, it's that time of year in Tokyo again: the darkness.  I am a teacher back at work, the weather in Tokyo is showing signs of turning to summer temperatures (like a place with reasonable summer temperatures), and I get reminded that Japan still doesn't do daylight savings.  Granted it was a stormy afternoon, but waiting on the platform at 17:00 I thought, 'It's awfully dark...'  Sure, because sunset is before 18:00 now: rise, 5:27; set, 17:43.  Must be because I am from Toronto, of which I am not fond, except that WE DO NOT WASTE ALL OUR SUNLIGHT BEFORE WE WAKE (rise, 7:02; set, 19:20). 

But who'd want another hour of sunlight after work to take your kids to the park?  No, it's much more fun in Tokyo to pray for sunset so your boss might deign to let you go, although neither you nor he did shit today but sit on your ass praying for another asset bubble.  This is only going to get worse by the daylight savings switch in early November, when Toronto will grab back an hour in the evening, but Tokyo won't, because it doesn't do daylight savings (showing once again a crack in its modernity).

Toronto is on the same latitude as Sapporo in Japan's north; and Tokyo is on the same latitude as LA and Washington: but I have never had so little sunlight I could use in the winter as in Tokyo.  I am going to have to start cycling to and from work to get some sunlight, or someone's going to get knifed.
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10 comments:

  1. Kathryn19 September 2012 at 07:24

    Daylight savings is pretty awesome. It's about to start here :)

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  2. thegypsie20 September 2012 at 06:48

    I am from California and DST is about to start here soon, I love it. Do you guys have a higher instance of seasonal affective disorder because you guys get your sunshine wasted on wee hours of the morning?

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    1. Ἀντισθένης21 September 2012 at 20:49

      I have a higher instance of it here, but I know you'll never get true data out of a Japanese organization, so it's not worth wondering how it affects the population here. Plus there are so many other reasons for the Japanese to be depressed, year round.

      Delete
    2. thegypsie22 September 2012 at 00:40

      The stories of your summer heat scare me... that would depress me :<

      Delete
  3. kamo20 September 2012 at 21:33

    Have neither the time or the will to google this, but I'm pretty sure Japan did experiment with daylight saving after one of the wars.

    IIRC it wasn't success and created a lot of resentment because all civil servants and most office workers had to start work an hour earlier. You'll note the absence of the words 'and finish' from that sentence.

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  4. Anonymous21 September 2012 at 17:12

    Daylight savings time during the summer months in Japan would only serve to make people feel depressed about missing out on the sunlight hours for one more hour per day...

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  5. Ἀντισθένης21 September 2012 at 20:50

    Yes, I think 'kamo' and 'Billy' get it.

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  6. locohama23 September 2012 at 08:30

    @billy @kamo stole the words right out of my mind.

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    Replies
    1. Ἀντισθένης23 September 2012 at 09:43

      Hey Loco, welcome here. I've seen your blog often, and think I have commented.

      Delete
  7. Will24 September 2012 at 08:26

    At least the light in the early hours can be enjoyed by the tidal crowd. Then again, most of the beach dwellers don't live in big cities. Maybe this is due to lack of the right kind of motivation or something like that.

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