Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan swept to power last month with the promise to revive the nation's moribund economy. One way to do so may be to stop people from working so hard.
Households have saved up about ¥1.41 quadrillion in financial assets, yet workers use less than half their paid holidays. Getting them to take all their time off would create 1.5 million jobs and pump ¥11.8 trillion a year into the economy, according to 2002 estimates by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
A quirk in the calendar will soon test that spending boost. For the first time, the nation will have a five-day break in September that the media have dubbed "silver week." Bookings for domestic tours this month rose 11 percent from last year at Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., said Eiko Sato, spokeswoman at Japan's second-largest listed tour agency by revenue.