Photo/Illutration The Yomeimon gate at Nikko Toshogu shrine after the completion of repairs, which took four years and cost about 1.2 billion yen ($11 million), back, in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, is seen on Dec. 20. (Takashi Kajiyama)

NIKKO, Tochigi Prefecture--Following numerous warnings from labor standards inspectors for having staff work long hours, Nikko Toshogu shrine here said it will open one hour later from Feb. 1.

The World Cultural Heritage site will move back its 8 a.m. opening time to 9 a.m on the date. It said it was the first time it has changed its opening hours.

Between January and April last year, inspectors from the Nikko labor standards inspection office repeatedly told the shrine that it had to comply with a 40-hour work week.

Inspectors found that shrine staff usually had to work overtime to clean up after the shrine closed and that records of how many hours staff worked were not accurately managed.

But the shrine faced the hard reality that an increase in visitors combined with a labor shortage had left it no option but to have staff work longer hours.

Visitors exceeded 2.66 million in 2017 after large-scale repairs to the shrine's main Yomeimon gate wrapped up. It was the first time the figure had topped 2 million since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. In 2018, about 2.4 million visitors came to see the shrine.

Though there were about 130 Shinto priests and full-time workers at the shrine 30 years ago, the responsibility of keeping Nikko Toshogu open for the incoming millions now lies with a core 58 people.

Even when part-time workers are included, the shrine still only has about 80 staff members.

Takamasa Inaba, the shrine's “gonguji,” a chief assistant to the shrine's operators in charge of festivals and general affairs, said Nikko Toshogu has found it extremely difficult to find new staff.

“It takes a long time to obtain qualification to become a priest, and he also needs to play ancient Japanese court music,” said Inaba. “There are fewer and fewer female students at local high schools who want to become shrine attendants.”

To comply with the labor standards inspection office's orders, the shrine reduced overtime and implemented stricter record keeping to monitor hours that staff spend on the job.

Left with fewer staff on hand, the shrine decided to reduce its hours of operation.

The change may affect school trips, which usually take students to the shrine in the morning. The shrine said that it will respond flexibly to schools that are unable to alter their trip schedules.

From November to March, the shrine had been open between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and from April to October between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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