Mishima city afterschool services (GAKUDO) are closed August 15-17th so that children can participate in the Mishima Summer Festival. On the other hand, the two consecutive dates of the ROIS summer vacation, which was implemented to save power, change each year, but they are often at the beginning of the week or on the weekend, differing from the Mishima city Obon vacation.

A request was made to ROIS to have the NIG summer vacation be the same time as the Mishima Summer Festival, and hereafter, the NIG summer vacation will be set around August 15-17th.

This proposal has several implications.

First, there are many NIG staff members who were troubled by having to work while afterschool services were closed. The Gender Equality Office provides temporary childcare during this period, but there are many users every year and we realized that there were many staff members who felt it inconvenient.

Next, we heard that some NIG staff members would like have their vacation coincide with the Mishima Summer Festival, but it is sometimes difficult because they will have to be absent from work for almost a week in combination with the ROIS summer vacation. The inability to freely take time off is an issue that needs to be improved.

Finally, regardless of personal situations, we believe that having the summer holidays coincide with the Mishima Summer Festival is meaningful in terms of promoting local activities among the people of NIG. As NIG is loved by the community, I would be glad if the staff members used this vacation time to interact with the community and enjoy the Mishima Summer Festival.