Japanese Dream of Eight Hours Sleep, But Few Get a Full Night’s Rest

People in Japan struggle to get enough sleep. In December 2024, the medical equipment company Fujiiryōki conducted a sleep survey aimed at its newsletter subscribers; when asked about their average amount of weekday sleep, the most common answer at 36.6% was “six hours.” Along with a further 22.5% of respondents saying “five hours or less,” the results showed that approximately 60% of people were getting six or less hours of sleep on weekdays.

On weekends and holidays, the most common average rose to “seven hours” (33.7%), indicating respondents were managing to get more sleep than on weekdays. But although the majority at 54.5% gave that their ideal sleep time as “eight hours,” the reality is that getting satisfactory sleep remains out of reach for many.

Moreover, 68% answered that they had “sleep issues.” The top specific problem, with 58.8%, was “waking up several times during the night,” followed by 44.2% who had “shallow sleep,” 42.8% “feeling tired even after sleep,” and 40.9% “frequently needing the toilet.”

At 52.5%, the most common cause respondents gave for their issues was “age,” with the other top two causes being “work stress” (31.6%) and “lack of exercise” (31.0%).

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)