Kyoto office employs a bunch of dummies

If you thought your workmates were dumb, be thankful you don't work in this Kyoto public relations office

By Robert Michael Poole 26 August, 2010

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NHK reported this week that a Kyoto prefecture public relations office that deals with complaints and citizen requests is using dummies to increase work efficiency.

The five upper-body-only mannequins sit on the staff desks facing the employees to ensure they don't relax. Each is given a name, age, gender and occupation. Yoshiko Naniwano, for example, is a 66-year-old lady from Osaka who came to visit Kyoto for sightseeing. She has some complaints to make. Another is a 32-year-old woman raising her kids. And there's a 24-year-old graduate student who is job hunting.

“I feel like being watched. The tense feeling in a good sense makes me work more efficiently," says one employee. The initiative has been so successful so far the office plans to employ more dummies soon.

Click here to read how other lifeless humanoids are making their mark in Japan.