プレミアムフライデー・スタート！/2017年(平成29年)2月24日(金)

1. プレミアムフライデーとは
個人が幸せや楽しさを感じられる体験（買物や家族との外食、観光等）や、そのための時間の創出を促すことで、
(1) 充実感・満足感を実感できる生活スタイルの変革への機会になる
(2) 地域等のコミュニティ機能強化や一体感の醸成につながる
(3)（単なる安売りではなく）デフレ的傾向を変えていくきっかけとなる
といった効果につなげていく取組です。
官民で連携し、全国的・継続的な取組となるよう、この取組を推進するための「プレミアムフライデー推進協議会」が設立されました。本日、第1回会合が開催され、実施方針・ロゴマーク等が決定しました。また、本取り組みを進めるに当たっては、働き方改革などライフスタイルの変革ともあわせて推進してまいります。
2. プレミアムフライデーの実施方針
(1) 実施時期
平成29年2月24日（金曜日）
（2回目以降も「月末」の「金曜日」を軸に実施）
(2) 実施主体
買物・観光・ボランティア・家族との時間など、多くの方が「生活の豊かさ」や「幸せ」を感じられるよう、付随する商品・サービス、イベントなどを地域・コミュニティ・企業等で検討
(3) 対象地域・業種
全国各地で、業種にとらわれずに実施
(4) 実施期間
金曜日を核とし、金曜日から日曜日の3日間とするなど、柔軟に設定
3. 統一ロゴマーク
取組の推進のため、一定の使用基準の下、プレミアムフライデー推進協議会事務局のホームページから企業等が自由に使用できる統一ロゴマークを無償提供します。統一ロゴマークには、複数の活用バリエーションを用意します。
統一ロゴマーク

Companies showcase ideas on how to spend 'Premium Friday'
Feb. 22, 2017 - 03:45PM JST
TOKYO —
Companies on Tuesday showcased various ways for workers to spend their “Premium Friday,” with the rollout approaching of the government-business initiative to get workers to leave the office early on the last Friday of each month in a bid to curb long working hours and spur consumption.
At a campaign event in Tokyo, major convenience store operator Lawson Inc displayed bento boxes and sweets that will be sold at its outlets only on Premium Friday, while cosmetics company Kose Corp said it will propose specific makeup ideas.
“We want people to spend quality time with family and friends on Premium Friday,” Kunio Ishizuka, vice chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, said at the event. “We hope that the Japanese economy will regain vitality.”
Starting Friday, company and government workers are being encouraged to finish work around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. on the last Friday of each month so they can go out and spend more money on shopping, dining and other leisure activities.
The campaign—which took its cue from Black Friday in the United States, the annual shopping campaign just after Thanksgiving—is being led by the industry ministry, Keidanren and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
At the event, Yasunori Aiba, vice president of Suntory Holdings Ltd, said 5,000 of its employees will leave work at 3 p.m. on Premium Fridays. “We hope that Premium Friday will take root and add a new richness to our lives.”
Department stores and restaurants are gearing up to offer discounts and special menus to customers from late Friday afternoon.
Odakyu Electric Railway Co said Tuesday it is offering a travel package allowing people to leave from Tokyo for the hot-spring town of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture late Friday afternoon.
Clothing retailer Adastria Co has coordinated Premium Friday fashions so families can go out in the evening after work in a relaxed style.
The government hopes that the Premium Friday campaign will boost efficiency and raise productivity in the workplace, amid concern about excessive working hours and “karoshi” deaths from overwork.
In a related move, the ruling parties decided Tuesday morning not to put a new budget to the vote in the House of Representatives this week to avoid marring the rollout of Premium Friday.
The decision was made because ongoing wrangling between the ruling and opposition camps on the lower house Budget Committee could prevent lawmakers from voting on it during a plenary session until late Friday afternoon, lawmakers said.
“In view of Premium Friday, we will deal with the matter without rushing (to seek passage),” Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said at a press conference after meeting with his counterpart from the LDP’s junior coalition partner, the Komeito party.
© KYODO