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Premium Friday starts all over Japan today. Premium Friday is a government-sponsored campaign that is the latest move in an ongoing effort to get Japanese people spending more money on consumables.

The whole point of the economic strategy conceived by the current LDP government, styled "Abenomics" after prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is to wean Japan off its traditional dependency on exports and create an economy less dependent on the exigencies of foreign demand and exchange rates, and more firmly bolstered by a thriving domestic market.

So, from here on in, every last Friday of the month is Premium Friday, which means that companies are being encouraged to let employees go home early - from about 3pm - and give them the chance to hang out  in a coffee shop surfing the web or reading manga, go to pachinko, go see a movie, art exhibition or practice their golf shots.
Or, as the official Premium Friday website puts it:
On the last Friday of the month, how about leaving work a little early and enjoy just that much fuller a weekend"
Stop work earlier than usual and take up a challenge you can't normally take up, talk to friends or family members you hardly ever get to meet, go for a walk on the bright, sunny street, or have a feel-good time playing sport with colleagues. Have a leisurely dinner that evening, or take the 2.5 days to travel to somewhere a little far away.
Yes, a rich, varied time begins all over Japan. Premium Friday begin...