[originaltext] A new enemy is threatening Japanese traditions: leisure. [29]

A new enemy is threatening Japanese traditions: leisure. [29] As part of its attempt to increase imports, the government is trying to get people to work less and spend more. The workers are disgusted.
    The figures support the western prejudice that the Japanese are all work and no play. Trying to force workers away from their desks and machines, the government said last April that the country should cut down from its 2,100 hours average work year to 1,899 hours and a five-day week. Beginning in February, banks and stock markets will be closed on Saturdays, staff of civil service will be forced out of their offices two Saturdays a month. The government hopes that others will follow that practice.
    But some persuasion will be needed. Small companies are very angry about it and they fear competitors may not cut hours. The unions are no happier: they have even advertised in newspapers arguing their case against the foreign pressure that is forcing leisure upon them. [30] They say that shorter hours are a disguised pay cut. [31] The industrialists, who have no objection to the government’s plans, admit that shorter hours will help them cut costs. Younger Japanese, who are supposed to be acting against their hard-working parents, show no sign of wanting time off either. But unlike older workers, they do spend money in their spare time. Not content with watching television, they dance, dress up, sit in caf6s, go to pop concerts and generally drive the leisure-industry boom. Now that they know how to consume, maybe the West can teach them to relax and enjoy themselves, too.