With summer just around the corner, people are wondering how to save electricity following the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out some of Japan’s power supply. Big corporations and brands have already announced some measures, such as shutting down offices for long summer vacations, plus we are starting to see eco products designed with this kind of thinking in mind. But it is also a case of every individual consumer doing his or her bit.
A new web magazine is now offering free tips for conscientious housewives to prepare for what summer may bring. Setsuden Shufu no Tomo (literally, “energy-saving housewife friends”) has sections specifically on tactics for the summer season, though it also includes ideas for how to save gas and water. It went public only on the 16th so some parts are a little bare, but there are columns featuring reports from the earthquake region and, as you’d expect, a whole heap of practical advice on what to do to reduce your electricity consumption.
Examples include putting blinds (traditional sudare screens) on the windows, spraying the blinds with water, growing plants to absorb the boiling sunlight, and keeping the room temperature at a modest 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 Fahrenheit) (i.e. resisting the temptation to whack on the air-conditioning and cool yourself right down). A lot of this may be just commonsense but modern conveniences and technologies have often made us forget that we should bother with these things. Consumers in Japan may start to discover their resourcefulness again while dealing with a changing situation, what we have been calling the new normal.
The organizers — a publishing company responsible for a spate of magazines — is drawing the content from other previously released resources in its empire, and no doubt is hoping that the traffic and publicity for Setsuden Shufu no Tomo may then roll onto its other digital and analog enterprises.
It may seem easy to dismiss housewives but they are a powerful market force in Japan. Thousands of them dabble in online currency markets and they are very savvy at utilizing their mobile tools to acquire the best bargains, through coupon portals like Shufoo! and Mainichi Tokubai. Tokyo needs to harness their strength to avoid the blackouts.
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