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The Japan News/Yomiuri
The Japan News/Yomiuri
National
Miho Matsuzaki and Yasuhiko Oguri / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

Japan's 'workation' programs gain popularity amid pandemic

Participants of a "workation" program enjoy local seafood during their lunch break at a restaurant in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in July. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

A new style of working that combines work and vacation, dubbed "Workation," is growing in popularity amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Municipalities suffering from population shrinkage, in particular, are adopting this working style to lure people from urban areas to coastal or mountainous regions with low infection risk. This move, which aims to promote regional development, is also attracting attention as a prompt for people to move out of urban areas amid a pandemic with no end in sight.

The city of Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in July began trial runs of a workation program, in which Tokyo company employees worked remotely while enjoying the local cuisine and nature.

In collaboration with second-tier general contractor Toda Corp. based in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, the municipal government established a work environment completed with internet connectivity at Zushi Kaikan hall. A participant in his 40s said that he enjoyed the local specialty dish of donburi (rice bowl) with shirasu whitebait as well as feeling the sea breeze during his lunch break. "I was able to relax and work," the man said.

The town of Odai, Mie Prefecture, held its test run of a workation program from March to April. Three employees of a Tokyo IT firm stayed in town for 12 days to participate in the prefecture-organized program. As they worked toward app development, they enjoyed activities including stand up paddle boarding along the clear stream of the Miyagawa river.

"My work progressed more efficiently than usual," said one participant about their stay.

The Mie prefectural government this fiscal year chose five places, including an accommodation facility where activities such as fishing can be enjoyed, as workation model venues and has been financially supporting them improve the communication environment and pay for rental car costs, among other things.

"It would be great if people considered our prefecture as a possible relocation destination," said Mie Gov. Eikei Suzuki.

The city of Myoko in Niigata Prefecture plans to open short-term public use residential-style offices in the Myoko Kogen hot spring resort in May 2022.

"We hope to increase the number of people who will continue to be involved with local communities through the establishment of spaces where exchanges between different industries can occur," a city official said.

Wakayama Prefecture has been making efforts to attract people who want to enjoy workation since 2017. More than 50 facilities, including a refurbished former school building and a farmhouse where visitors can pick mikan oranges, are now available for workation. In the past three years, 910 people from 104 various companies such as IT and finance companies have made use of the facilities.

"I'd like to try workation once the pandemic has subsided," was one of the comments among those received by the prefectural government.

There are also companies that are promoting workation programs while keeping an eye on the extent of the pandemic. A Japan Airlines Co. employee, 37, has worked in a workation program about 20 times since the company began the program in 2017, which allows employees to work up to four hours a day at their travel destination. This is regarded as a half-day holiday and the employees can work at places such as a hotel and their parents' home.

In June, the airline employee stayed in Osaka, where the infection outbreak had temporarily subsided, for four days working at a cafe and eating okonomiyaki savory pancakes, a specialty in Osaka.

He also has completed paperwork at a hotel that overlooks the sea in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, while enjoying a footbath. "Thanks to the workation system, I no longer have to interrupt my vacation for meetings or other tasks that would take only a few hours," he said.

Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/

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