The Japanese Skimp On Sleep

Above, Japanese workers zonked out on a subway train after work. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There had been many a time when I've taken a Tokyo subway train during the evening rush hour and found many of the city's citizens (men and women) inside the train car fast asleep. Each time, my immediate thought was, "Will they wake up in time to get off at their stop?" 

Strangely, they usually do.

Rocket News 24 has posted an interesting article on the amount of sleep Japan's workers get after a full day at work, plus overtime (paid, if they're lucky) and possibly an after-work gathering of co-workers at a local bar to unwind.

The article begins with:

It’s a stereotype about Japan that most people are familiar with – the Japanese work hard, give their lives to the company, and stay at work until after the boss has gone home. It’s a country where karoushi, or death from overwork, is a commonly-used buzzword. While some people might argue that the Japanese don’t actually work any harder than those in the west, it certainly seems that they’re working longer hours than the rest of us. 

But as a consequence, how much sleep are they getting?

To read more, go here.