Eight hours a day glued to a screen – and one Japanese town just said 'enough is enough.'
Shoki Moriyama, a 25-year-old Tokyo office worker, dedicates a staggering eight hours daily to his smartphone. "I need my phone to navigate my way through the information wars," he explains, representing a generation that has never known existence without endless scrolling through news feeds, social platforms, messaging applications, and bizarre viral videos.
But here's where it gets controversial – Japanese authorities are now stepping in with unprecedented measures.
While smartphone addiction has become a global epidemic, Japan is taking bold action as concerns mount over the devastating physical and psychological consequences, especially among youth. The small town of Toyoake in central Japan recently made headlines by implementing an extraordinary ordinance: limiting smartphone usage among all 69,000 residents to just two hours per day.
This groundbreaking measure, passed by the town assembly last month, represents officials' desperate attempt to combat mounting evidence of digital addiction and chronic sleep deprivation. However, the ordinance carries no penalties – making it more of a social experiment than enforceable law.
When several twenty-something Japanese residents accepted our challenge to test this two-hour limit, the results were both inspiring and utterly revealing.
Moriyama, who compulsively checks LINE (Japan's dominant messaging and entertainment super-app), TikTok, Instagram, and X, admitted that drastically reducing his usage felt like climbing Mount Fuji. "I spend around eight hours daily on my phone, so two hours feels impossibly restrictive... there's simply not enough time to stay current with everything," he confesses.
Yet something remarkable happened. "I managed to use my smartphone for exactly one hour and fifty minutes – a massive reduction from my typical screen time. I channeled that extra time into reading books, studying, and hitting the gym, so my day wasn't squandered."
His colleague Tomomi Hanaoka experienced similar success in taming her digital habits. "I typically spend three hours on my phone during weekdays and six to seven hours on weekends, so two hours felt incredibly restrictive. Most people realistically need at least three to four hours," explains Hanaoka, who normally "can't function" without LINE, TikTok, and Instagram.
"I successfully maintained the two-hour limit and invested my newfound free time in reading and pursuing other activities."
But this is the part most people miss – not everyone embraced the challenge with open arms.
Akari Saito, a university student, established her reservations upfront, "because my personality dictates that imposing limits on something only intensifies my desire for it." While Saito appreciated Toyoake's initiative as a catalyst for broader smartphone discussions, she argues the emphasis should target the quality rather than quantity of screen time. "Although distinguishing between educational and entertainment usage could prove challenging."
Despite genuine effort, Saito struggled to reduce her daily three to four hours of phone usage. "I found it particularly difficult to resist during my train commute to school or while walking. However, I recognize that decreasing phone usage might make days feel longer and allow for more meaningful experiences."
Yuri (name changed) has previously attempted limiting smartphone usage, especially during exam periods, even hiding Instagram and implementing password-protected restrictions for additional security. She utilizes her device for social media monitoring, recipe searches, text messaging, and accessing study materials, though excessive screen time triggers headaches and eye fatigue.
"I question why the ordinance directly advocates restricting smartphone usage. If the objective involves encouraging people to reconsider their habits, they should be empowered to establish personal guidelines," she argues.
"However, I generally support the suggested smartphone usage approach – primarily because I don't require my smartphone for hobbies and interests. But individuals who primarily use devices for entertainment and stress management will find such measures difficult to embrace."
And this is where the controversy really heats up.
Toyoake's mayor, Masafumi Koki, vigorously defended the measure despite receiving dozens of complaints from residents who accused local government of invading their private lives. While Koki regularly uses his smartphone for baseball score updates and map consultations – but sets it aside during dinner – he expressed genuine concern that children and young people were sacrificing sleep and family time for scrolling, texting, and posting.
Following intense online criticism, including false claims that the two-hour limit would be strictly enforced, Koki told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper: "When someone hears 'two hours,' they'll pause and contemplate how long they actually use their smartphone. That's precisely the point."
The statistics paint a sobering picture: young Japanese spend an average of slightly over five hours daily online during weekdays, according to this year's Children and Families Agency survey.
Aya (name changed) significantly exceeds the national average, regularly accumulating eight hours of daily device usage. "I couldn't restrict myself to merely two hours, but simply being conscious of the challenge created a meaningful difference. Ultimately, I reduced my typical smartphone usage by approximately 60%, which felt substantial," the university student admits, acknowledging she consulted travel planners and checked emails and texts.
She expressed support for Toyoake's initiative, speculating that the absence of penalties might represent its greatest strength. "That's precisely what makes it meaningful... you must establish personal rules and adjust them accordingly. It's a crucial opportunity to think concretely about daily habits, rather than abstractly."
Most surprisingly, she didn't miss the hours typically spent "aimlessly scrolling." "I invested more time enjoying conversations and observing my surroundings. It made my day feel significantly more meaningful."
This outcome would undoubtedly please Koki. On the eve of his town's controversial social engineering experiment, the mayor insisted the effort would prove worthwhile. "This concerns sleep, family, and wellbeing," he states. "If the ordinance makes even a few people pause and discuss their habits, then it's succeeding."
But here's the million-dollar question that's dividing opinions: Should governments have any role in regulating our digital consumption, or does this represent dangerous overreach into personal freedom? Are we witnessing necessary intervention in a public health crisis, or the first step toward digital authoritarianism?
What's your take – do you think a two-hour smartphone limit could transform your daily life for the better, or would you join the chorus of critics calling this governmental overreach? Could you survive on just two hours of screen time, or has our generation become so digitally dependent that such limits feel impossibly restrictive? Share your thoughts – are you team 'digital detox' or team 'hands off my phone'?
