Lost Summer Light
My father asked recently about when it gets dark here in Tokyo, and it got me to thinking. I noticed that while in Madrid, in April, it was light out until very late–well past 8:00 pm. My father noted that it stays light out in the San Francisco Bay Area until almost 9:00 in the evening–though of course he noted this at summer solstice.
In Japan, however, sunset is around 7:00 pm now. Seeing as how Tokyo and San Francisco share almost the same latitude, how is this? The same goes for Madrid.
As it happens, both Madrid and San Francisco are on the western edges of their time zones, while Tokyo is on the eastern edge of its zone; this accounts for a good deal of the difference. In addition, America and Europe enjoy Daylight Savings Time, while Japan has opted out of that plan–one of only three developed nations (including India and China) that don’t change their clocks.
As a result, it starts getting light before 4:00 in the morning, which means that birds start their early-morning chirping at about 3:30, which is how late night owls like me sometimes stay up until.
Seeing as how most of Japan is on the east end of GMT+9, it would seem natural to have DST. DST was implemented by U.S. occupation forces after WWII, but the Japanese government dismissed it immediately upon regaining independence. According to various sources, DST has not been implemented for several reasons: farmers hated it, educators feared it would keep students away from homework in the early evening, and one claim even said it was preferred in the gloomy postwar days, so everyone could get drunk and sleep instead of being depressed in the daylight.
However, it seems that we may be getting a break: this month, there is news that the government is now seriously reconsidering DST for Japan in the face of global warming, and, one would presume, rising energy costs. Hokkaido experimented with DST after a fashion–a non-mandatory shift of working hours. As slipshod as that might sound, it apparently worked, and has fueled interest in DST here. Look here to see a “man on the street” perspective.
Personally, I’d vote for Japan to join GMT+10 and have DST on top of that–then Tokyo could enjoy mid-evening June daylight like Spain gets, and the sun would rise at a civilized 6:00 am during the summer. Even early risers in Tokyo miss an hour or two of daylight, and most people miss two or three hours. I miss four or five, but then I’m weird.
As a Geography person and a day person this is something I am very sensitive too.
To factors are involved. Where you sit within your respective time zones, and where you sit latitude.
Korea has been talking about moving to daylight savings time. The sun starts comming up at 4am here in the summer. That is rediculous. I am such a light sleeper, if I wake up, I can’t fall back to sleep. This is killing me.
For the life of me, I don’t know why people put up with this. Farmers don’t really care about the clock so that’s no excuse. Daylight that exist from 4 am to 6 am is just wasted day light. And I find it pressious.
I love late night twilight.
Most of my life has been spent in central time zone. I spent two years in Chicago which is at 42degrees north and the eastern end of Central time zone. In the winter the sun sets about 4:15 in the afternoon. Overwhelmingly depressing!!!!!.
I was in law school and working one year. I needed to study on weekends. In late November, studying for finals, I woke up late on a Saturday morning. I was dragging a bit. I finally went to get my breakfast at 11:30. I read both the morning papers fairly thoroughly at breakfast, a bit of procrastination on my part, walked out of the diner a little before 2:00 to see that the sun was already well on its way to setting! And I had not started studing yet! Oh I was so depressed.
On the other hand, I lived in Kansas City, same time zone, but maybe 400 miles west, and in winter the Sun sets at about 5 – which is not bad, and in the Summer, 9pm which is nice. Almost perfect.
The latest I experianced was in Normandy in July. You could also go to Scotland and have some late sunsets and that far north, some really long twilights. Its just the best feeling in the world.
I don’t know how the people in Japan put up with that. It really is rediculous. As far as we know, we only go through this life once. Why, on earth, would they waste all that daylight. That’s like throwing away the most presious things that life is made of, in my mind, time. And Day Time is Prime Time.