
The Japanese art of not sleeping - r721
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160506-the-japanese-art-of-not-sleeping
======
kristianc
My impression of working in Japan around five years ago was that it felt like
an economy medicated on caffeine.

Work goes on from 8am - 9pm, after which many are expected to go out and
socialize with their colleagues (karaoke etc) and get drunk until 3am. Rinse
and repeat, most days of the week. It wasn't at all unusual to see rows of
salarymen asleep on the subway every morning.

Japan's most popular drink is a brand of canned coffee which is on sale
everywhere and in the vending machines that line the streets. Coca Cola's
brand of this coffee accounts for an outsize proportion of their global
profits (something like 12%, only sold in Japan).

All of this seems to be totally okay and accepted despite the obvious impact
on productivity of regularly going for long periods without sleep. This is the
offices of Dentsu, Japan's largest media agency, at night:
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EWX6--sQtsA](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EWX6
--sQtsA)

~~~
somethingsimple
> after which many are expected to go out and socialize with their colleagues
> (karaoke etc) and get drunk until 3am.

Is it socially acceptable not to do so? Or is there high pressure from peers
or superiors to do it?

When do people spend time with their families there? If they even have
families...

~~~
Ezhik
I wonder if one can even make it in Japan if they don't drink.

~~~
kalleboo
No, it's fine if you just drink tea non-alcoholic beer. You just have to act
the part. At least at my wife's company it's fine (it may help she has the
excuse of having to drive)

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jmadsen
Just a note (and this is only my opinion):

The photos you see of people sleeping on the stairs, etc are probably late-
night drunks, not _inemuri_

The phenomenon described is real, but people do it more slumped over on the
train, meetings, etc. not sprawled out on the sidewalk.

Furthermore, it extends beyond salarymen on trains; my wife & teenage daughter
both do it simply as a way of life almost. They could go to bed at a decent
hour but usually stay up late & catnap instead.

~~~
kalleboo
> They could go to bed at a decent hour but usually stay up late & catnap
> instead.

My wife (as a Japanese salarywoman) is perpetually tired, but still stays up
late watching TV/SNS. Why? "If I went to bed early, my whole life would just
be work and sleep"

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Artlav
So, what part of this seems surprising, bad, unusual, etc from a western/USA
perspective?

Sleeping in public, sleeping on a train, napping whenever?

The fact of time management that puts you into position that require such
naps?

Or something else?

The article implies, but it's not clear for me on what.

~~~
franciscop
I love the Japanese culture and I've lived there for a while.

Personally, what most shocked me is how accepted and common this is.

To the point that when I friend came to study to Spain she asked me: "Why is
no one sleeping in the library?"

On the other side, I believe it's also dangerous. I visited Malaysia with my
gf, and she would fall asleep in every train and taxi because it's just what
they do.

~~~
GreaterFool
I live in Tokyo and I think it's great. You can often see people at McDonalds
early in the morning after a night out catching a nap before the trains start
running. Just buy a coffee or something, grab a table, take an hour nap --
great. And this is Japan so you don't have to worry about your stuff getting
stolen! Even if you sleep at the train station!

I also commonly see people taking naps during lunchtime in Starbucks. Someone
will come in, grab a coffee, take a nap for 30 min, drink the coffee and go
back to work. There's nothing wrong with that! (other than I want the table
:P)

Unfortunately the corporate culture is not where it should be. There are some
companies that want to be like western startups where taking a nap on the
office sofa wouldn't raise an eyebrow but those are _very rare_. In most
Japanese companies it would be totally unacceptable to sleep in the office.

~~~
coldtea
Having a broken work/life balance is "great"?

They're cultures that you can see "see people at McDonalds early in the
morning after a night out" all the time, without having to go there directly
from working late...

~~~
GreaterFool
No, you are taking "great" out of context.

It is great that you can safely take a nap in a public space without fear of
being robbed or worse (as one would have to fear outside Japan), without
having police called on you, and with general public acceptance of such
action.

Nobody will think you're a bum or a mad or look at you funny. Try that
somewhere else and let's see what happens!

Japanese corporate culture is terrible and that is sad. I don't have an answer
to that.

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deadtofu
I remember the first time I visited Tokyo. The subway to Shinjuku station was
packed. People seemed annoyed by my bags. We were really crammed in. Someone
remarked to me that it was "rush hour" for people going home from their
offices.

It was 10pm on a weeknight.

~~~
hkmurakami
10pm on a weeknight is around when the post-drinking going home rush hour
starts. The last and second to last trains are miserable experiences for me
since they reek of alcohol and I'm terrified of someone projectile vomiting on
me.

~~~
gozur88
A guy I know from Tokyo witnessed just such an event. He was on a train so
packed you couldn't move, and when one of the commuters started yakking on his
neighbor neither of them could move, so the victim had to just sit there and
take it.

~~~
deadtofu
"So sorry!"

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duckingtest
Are the pavements really that clean or is that photo with the stairs just
unrealistic? I guess it's possible, although that would require near constant
vacuuming.

~~~
marktangotango
Someone from Germany please correct me, but aren't you required to keep the
street in front of your house clean? I was amazed at how clean Germany was,
then I went to Switzerland, even cleaner. Amazing.

~~~
mynewtb
Only in terms of hazards like snow and ice.

~~~
majewsky
Exactly. There is no cleanliness requirement, but if someone gets injured
because of snow and ice on your part of the way, you are liable.

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ilaksh
This seems like a simplification. Surely some Japanese prefer to try to get a
good night's sleep, or would rather their colleagues didn't need to nap during
a meeting.

Anyway, napping is something most cultures appreciate. Just seems we don't
accommodate it as well as the Japanese.

------
known
Happens in Tokyo, not in other parts of Japan;

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Steidl
The people in the photographs accompanying the article are drunk, not
sleeping.

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bronz
this is why the culture we have in the us, uk and other countries like it is
so important. in countries like japan and korea nobody feels as though they
can say or do anything on their own. they have to do what is expected of them.
is it any surprise that they all end up throwing their health into the toilet
under that kind of system?

~~~
xiaoma
The Japanese are healthier than anyone else on the planet.

~~~
bronz
then why do they kill themselves more than anyone else on the planet?

~~~
qazwse_
They don't?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_r...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate)

~~~
bronz
the only countries that are higher than it are developing countries and south
korea, which has the same cultural problem. you cant just throw a wikipedia
page at me with no context and expect me to revise my views. especially when
you punctuate a declaration with a question mark like a twelve year old. japan
has a high suicide rate. deal with it.

~~~
koide
Your original phrase is factually incorrect. Had you said what's actually true
instead of exaggerating for effect, you might have gotten a different answer.
And about context, question marks and twelve year olds, that's rather out of
place and it's exactly what you did with your original phrase.

~~~
bronz
its nitpicking. everyone knows the japanese have a very high suicide rate. i
could have pointed out that the japanese are not the healthiest people in the
world. the healthiest people in the world are singapore, italy and australia.
but i didnt point that out because everyone knows that the japanese are very
healthy. these details are not relevant.

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artur_makly
only their metro can be this clean after a flood :
[https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/chinese-
citi...](https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/chinese-citizens-
amazed-by-cleanliness-of-japans-floodwater/57205)

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danthejam
Here's a photography series on Japanese people sleeping:
[http://www.kirainet.com/japoneses-
durmiendo-15/](http://www.kirainet.com/japoneses-durmiendo-15/)

