In February, Tokyo-based public relations firm Sunny Side Up announced employees could leave work early on the last Friday of every month.

The problem? Nobody wanted to go. Despite the company’s announcement, it seemed like everyone would stay at their desks anyway.

“It is not the Japanese way,” explains Ryuta Hattori, head of the company’s global communications department. “In the Japanese working culture, we work so hard and work so many hours and nobody takes off early. It is not done.”