世論 What Japan Thinks

As part of their 102nd Ranking Survey, DIMSDRIVE Research looked at average sleep time. 5,391 members of their monitor pool responded to their internet-based questionnaire at the start of October. In related news, Mutantfrog Travelogue reported on a recent government survey (which I might translate in full later) that showed the average Japanese person wakes up at 6:43AM.

Whether the figures below are for an average weekday, or if they include weekends, I don’t really know. Also unclear is whether time spent trying to fall asleep or dozing in the morning is included. For myself, I’m lucky to get 6 hours on weekdays and perhaps just around 8 hours on weekends. With the holidays coming up, I’d love to get a solid 8 hours kip for a week, but…

Note that women get only slightly more sleep than men – although the average salaryman may come home late from work or the pub after the wife has gone to bed, it is the lot of the housewife to wake earlier to prepare breakfast and packed lunches for her hubby and offspring.

Q: How long do you sleep on average every night? (Sample size=5,391)

	Votes	Percentage
Under 3 hours	14	0.3%
3 to 4 hours	156	2.9%
4 to 5 hours	688	12.8%
5 to 6 hours	1652	30.6%
6 to 7 hours	1772	32.9%
7 to 8 hours	871	16.2%
8 to 9 hours	199	3.7%
9 to 10 hours	23	0.4%
Over 10 hours	16	0.3%

Q: How long do you sleep on average every night? (Sample size=5,391, by sex)

	Men N=2,831	Percentage	Women N=2,560	Percentage
Under 3 hours	8	0.3%	6	0.2%
3 to 4 hours	85	3.0%	71	2.8%
4 to 5 hours	386	13.6%	302	11.8%
5 to 6 hours	859	30.3%	793	31.0%
6 to 7 hours	951	33.6%	821	32.1%
7 to 8 hours	450	15.9%	421	16.4%
8 to 9 hours	79	2.8%	120	4.7%
9 to 10 hours	5	0.2%	18	0.7%
Over 10 hours	8	0.3%	8	0.3%

As men get older, they get slightly more sleep, with the 6 to 7 hour band slowly increasing mostly at the expense of the 5 to 6 hour one.