Sleep and Rest in Japan and the World

Sleep and Rest in Japan and the World

When I think about Japan and sleep together, the first thing that comes to mind is the sleep debt crisis that Japan faces. It can be seen in various different ways such as Japanese people falling asleep in public spaces especially during commuting hours or break times. University of Tsukuba (2025) has estimated that Japan's economy is negatively affected due to disrupted sleeping habits amongst the working citizens - with an average of roughly six hours or less (Figure 1) from a survey conducted in 2024 by Nippon. This is mainly due to the high stress working or study life that Japan has adopted in its society and culture.


Figure 1: Survey on the Daily Amount of Sleep Amongst Japanese people (Nippon, 2024).

In comparison to Malaysia, I personally think that it is similar mainly in terms of amongst students or the younger-aged people. Studies have shown that most students experience poor sleep due to academic pressure (Lakshme Shree et al., 2025) or night-life lifestyles that stretch occasionally until after midnight. However, I believe that it is not sleep but the quality and hygiene as well; hence there are many factors that affect each country's sleep factor. A similarity between Japan and Malaysia is that many citizens face long commutes in Malaysia due to heavy traffic congestion leading to prolong driving periods which leads to heavier fatigue.


Videos insights (Sleep in Japan Documentary)

Through the video, Japanese people often take power naps whenever they can as 40% of people get less than 6 hours of sleep on a daily basis (FRANCE 24 English, 2024). This culture is called 'Inemuri' and many companies have developed business ideas from it in order to improve sleep quality. This made me realize that sleep is one of the most crucial things for human beings in order to carry out expected standards. Not only does Japan have an increasingly competitive and stressful work environment, I noticed that many salary workmen are overworked and underpaid with many doing unpaid overtime in order to get work done. In contrast to Malaysia, many often get paid overtime or bonuses as a repayment of their time and hard work. Moreover, it made me reflect that urgent awareness should be raised regarding sleep and Japan's work environment in order to support the mental and physical health of its citizens.

References

1. Japan's unique sleep culture: 'Inemuri', the art of taking power naps (2024). FRANCE 24 English. Available at: https://youtu.be/Cdnydl4QGHs?si=Zeu7Hb9mwj-HKVtE [Accessed 25 Apr. 2026].‌

2. Lakshme Shree, Raja, S., Khang, Y.Y., Arvinder-Singh Harbaksh and Bainun Ipoh (2025). Sleep quality, sleep hygiene practices and their influencing factors among Malaysian university students: A cross-sectional study. Malaysian Family Physician, [online] 20(22), pp.1–11. doi: https://doi.org/10.51866/oa.717.

3. Nippon. (2024). Sleep Survey in Japan Finds Many Get Less than Six Hours’ Shut-Eye. [online] Available at: https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01996/.

4. The Mainichi Japan's National Daily Since 1922 (2025). Japan’s economic losses from disrupted sleep patterns hit $6.35 billion annually: study - The Mainichi. [online] The Mainichi. Available at: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251222/p2a/00m/0li/026000c [Accessed 22 Apr. 2026].


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