Japanese city implements two-hour daily recreational smartphone usage limit — ordinance comes into effect from October 1, no enforcement or penalties proposed

A draft ordinance that proposes a limit of two hours of smartphone use, outside of work or study purposes, was voted on in Toyoaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today. The ordinance passed with 12 out of 19 council members voting in favor. All local citizens should follow the new rule starting from October 1. However, “there is no enforcement or penalty in the ordinance,” reports Japan’s NHK (machine translation).

We reported on this upcoming vote about a month ago. The news raised our interest,…