In an attempt to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, some local governments are planning to ask convenience stores to rethink their round-the-clock operations. If fully implemented, fewer business hours would have a great impact on people¡¯s lifestyles. As a first step, though, it would be necessary to consider various factors in nationwide public discussions on convenience stores.

According to a Kyodo News survey, nine local governments ¡ª Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Aichi, Kyoto and Gunma prefectures and the cites of Yokohama, Kyoto and Hiroshima ¡ª express positive views about asking convenience stores to reduce their operating hours.

The Japan Franchise Association feels that the convenience stores industry has been singled out for ¡°sniping at.¡± It says that the adoption of 7 a.m.-11 p.m. operating hours, for example, would increase daytime merchandise transportation, leading to increased COe emissions during the day, and would reduce the industry¡¯s COe emissions by 4 percent, equivalent to only 0.009 percent of the nation¡¯s total emissions. It also says that the reduction in business hours would reduce sales by 20 percent and affect the employment of about 1.3 million people.

A survey by Gekkan Konbini magazine shows that some 70 percent of convenience store owners think that some stores do not necessarily need to operate around the clock.

For many people who come home late at night due to their work schedule, convenience stores are indispensable. While such stores may become the haunts of delinquents, they can also serve as safe havens for people who feel threatened by crime on the street. It is reported that there are about 15,000 cases a year in which women take shelter at convenience stores; half of them do so late at night.

But attention should also be paid to the fact that convenience stores discard a large amount of fresh-food items that pass their ¡°best-before¡± dates. Some areas have an unnecessarily high concentration of such stores. The moves by the local governments at least would help the nation rethink its mass-consumption culture, which wastes large amounts of energy and other resources.