Japan to Pause Work on Public Projects in Summer, as Risk of Heatstroke Rises Ever Higher

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, September 25, 2025

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry plans to introduce down periods in midsummer for public works projects. As summers have reached extreme highs in recent years, the ministry will halt road paving and other outdoor work ordered by regional development bureaus.

Down periods will begin on a test basis from next summer.

This summer was the hottest on record, and the risk of heatstroke among those working on public projects has been increasing. The ministry also aims to improve working conditions on site by shifting work hours to early morning or nighttime.

According to the ministry, it will include clauses about the down periods in future contracts with construction companies, so that the timing can be set through discussions by both parties.

The down periods will consist of one to two months in the middle of summer. The ministry plans for the measure to cover laborers paving roads or working on embarkments or at landfills, among other projects.

Timelines for work will be decided with consideration for down periods. If work cannot be delayed or there is an urgent need, such as to repair roads, that work will be exempt from the measure.

The Utsunomiya National Road Office, part of the Kanto Regional Development Bureau, itself introduced summer down periods on a test basis last year. So far, the office has applied the measure to eight public works, mainly paving and road lighting work.

Construction companies that received contracts for the work praised the program, saying that it helped keep employees healthy and contributed to work reforms. They said that during the summer down periods, employees took vacations or prepared construction materials.

This year, Japan saw its highest average temperature for a summer since the start of recordkeeping, and the hot weather has grown more dangerous with each year. This puts workers at great risk of suffering a heatstroke.

That led the ministry decide to introduce the summer down periods for work under its regional development bureaus.

The measure will be introduced first on a test basis as it may negatively impact day laborers, who could lose their jobs during the period, and the ministry will examine the issues that need to be resolved.

The ministry believes that brutal work in searing heat and other hard conditions is partially to blame for the serious labor shortage for construction. It plans to expand the down periods to work commissioned by local governments and private companies.

“Working in extremely hot weather is risky and it harms productivity,” said a senior official at the ministry. “We want to make it possible to choose from diverse ways of working and improve safety, so that it will be easier to secure workers.”