The Japan Times has an article about “Japanese companies warming up — slowly — to four-day workweek:”
Once synonymous with long work hours, Japanese companies are beginning to embrace — or at least consider — the idea of a four-day workweek.
Although the concept is nothing new and the number of companies adopting the system fluctuates, it is increasing over the long term.
As of 2018, according to a labor ministry survey, 6.9 percent of privately held companies with 30 or more full-time employees had introduced the system in some form. A decade ago, the figure was 3.1 percent.
As I’ve noted earlier, Japan has some of the biggest companies in the world that are currently operating on a shortened workweek: Zozo adopted what it calls the “Rokujiro” 30-hour workweek in 2012. This article is more about companies adopting four 10-hour days, but still, it’s another straw in the wind.