The practice of stores and facilities offering “quiet hours” — dimming the lighting and reducing sounds to provide an environment with less sensory stimulation, for people with developmental and other disabilities — has started to attract nationwide attention.
The trend has recently reached Miyagi Prefecture, in the Tohoku region, and those involved hope such efforts will spread further so that environments are created that make it easier for people of all abilities to visit stores and venues.
Tsuruha Drug’s Tomiya Hiyoridai store, a drugstore located in the city of Tomiya in Miyagi Prefecture, started offering quiet hours in the summer of 2020.