Tokyo forgoes its trademark blaze of neon

[somone]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-quake-tokyo-20110314,0,4028855.story

In Japan, Tokyo's lights voluntarily dimmed after quake
Amid calls by the Japanese government to conserve power and upcoming rolling blackouts, Tokyo businesses and residents band together to turn off lights.
By Laura King and Kenji Hall, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Tokyo - It's hard to imagine this city without its trademark blaze of neon — the garish, flashing signs that routinely turn the Tokyo nightscape into a phantasmagoric riot of color. On Sunday night, though, little imagination was needed. Tokyo didn't go dark. But it dimmed itself, a voluntary power-conservation measure in the wake of Friday's catastrophic earthquake. Even what may be the city's most iconic structure, the 1,092-foot Tokyo Tower, turned out the lights.

In the city's most neon-heavy precincts, Shinjuku and Ginza, people strolling the sidewalks on a cool, clear evening eyed the surrounding skyscrapers, pointing out to each other the gaps in what is normally a hallucinogenic, strobe-lit stream of images and Japanese-language characters. The unlit patches stood out like missing teeth.

Japanese officials announced that Monday, the first full day of the work week since the quake, would bring rolling blackouts to much of the country, possibly including central Tokyo. But they appealed to businesses not to wait for them to pull the plug, urging self-imposed restraint on power usage, particularly at night when shortages are expected to be at their most acute.

Even on a weekend, many of Japan's corporate citizens took note. "Management's orders" was the recurring mantra at many spots that are customarily lit with cartoonish intensity: movie theaters, pachinko parlors, fast-food joints, karaoke bars that normally beckon would-be crooners from blocks away... Convenience stores, ubiquitous features in the capital, jumped on the turn-it-off bandwagon. Two of the largest chains, 7-Eleven and Lawson, began using minimal outside lighting, with only a single illuminated sign so customers would know they were open for business...

[Drale]

1. Thats something that would never happen in America

We small people would have to go without power completely so that the big places can have their neon.

[RandySF]

5. No one would be willing to turn the TV off for an hour.

[RandySF]

2. When I see this

I think about the shit storm that erupted in Detroit just after 9/11 when Huffington suggested we stop buying SUV's.

[Thunderstruck]

3. The neon can wait. I applaud the willingness of those businesses to recognize that

this is an event that requires sacrifice and cooperation and shutting off those signs is a really good thing.

[malaise]

7. Society before individual greed

It's the only way

[Wilms]

4. They figured that out pretty quick.

How many nukes are required to keep daylight round the clock?

[Old and In the Way]

6. Dammit, I hit the unrec button.

Sorry about that. I'm afraid Japan will be in for some very tough times in the next few years. The clean-up and rebuild looks impossible. The country's psyche and fear of another such event will take longer to repair.

[lildreamer316]

8. I gotcha.

Rec'd it for ya :)

[Old and In the Way]

9. thanks...and a kick to boot.

Or is that a boot to kick? :cheers:

[AlecBGreen]

10. any thoughts on this?

But they appealed to businesses not to wait for them to pull the plug, urging self-imposed restraint on power usage, particularly at night when shortages are expected to be at their most acute.

I thought overall demand for electricity was lowest at night? Thats why rates go down, and hence why we do our laundry at night. Any ideas?

[somone]

11. I was wondering about that myself

Not long ago there was a story about Japanese windmill operators having a hard time selling electricity generated at night to power companies, so they had to store it in batteries - at considerable expense - and sell it during the day when demand was higher.

[jannyk]

12. k&r!