Toyoake, Aichi prefecture, will urge all residents to limit smartphone use to two hours per day to combat online addiction and sleep deprivation. The non-binding ordinance targets children and adults to prevent physical and mental health problems, including sleep issues. The municipal assembly began debating the draft ahead of a vote next month, with the measure set to take effect in October if approved. No penalties will be imposed for exceeding the limit. The draft recommends children avoid devices after 9pm and teenagers and adults after 10pm. The proposal provoked social media backlash and critical public responses, and the mayor framed the measure as optional and a prompt for family discussion.
A town in Japan is to urge all residents to restrict their smartphone use to two hours a day in an attempt to tackle online addiction and sleep deprivation. Officials in Toyoake, Aichi prefecture, said the measure would target not only children but also adults, amid growing concern about the physical and psychological toll excessive smartphone use is taking on people of all ages. The move aims to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues including sleep problems, the mayor, Masafumi Koki said recently.
The draft urges primary school students those aged six to 12 and younger children to avoid using smartphones or tablets after 9pm, while teenagers and adults are encouraged to put their devices to one side after 10pm. The proposal, the first of its kind to apply to all residents, triggered a backlash on social media. Some users condemned it as an attack on individual freedom, while other said the time limit was simply unworkable.
I understand their intention, but the two-hour limit is impossible, one user wrote on X. Another said: Two hours isn't even enough to read a book or watch a movie (on my smartphone). In response, Koki said the time limit was not mandatory and acknowledged that smartphones were useful and indispensable in daily life. But he added: I hope it will be an opportunity for families to think about and discuss the time they spend on smartphones as well as the time of day the devices are used.
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