世論 What Japan Thinks

I’m sure most of us who have worked in Japan have experienced a colleague sleeping during meetings, so to try to put some concrete numbers on the phenomenon iShare conducted a survey into sleeping at work.

Demographics

Between the 28th of April and the 7th of May 2009 405 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private mobile-phone internet-based questionnaire. 54.3% of the sample were male, 32.3% in their twenties, 32.6% in their thirties, and 35.1% in their forties.

Power-napping, catching 15 minutes of forty winks during lunch break, does have definite benefits, and indeed napping salons have started popping up recently, although I do suspect that due to the short night-time sleep hours the Japanese power-nap is more of a necessity than a lifestyle choice.

I don’t power-nap as I use lunch as an opportunity to prepare articles for WJT, but I keep thinking I should. However, my desk is not sleep-friendly and we don’t have any relaxation space in the office.

Research results

Q1: Are you currenly in employment? (Sample size=405)

	All	Male N=220	Female N=185
Yes	69.9%	72.3%	67.0%
No (to end of survey)	30.1%	27.7%	33.0%

Note that the percentage of employed women (and indeed unemployed men) is surprisingly high.

Q2: At work, do you get drowsy during the daytime? (Sample size=283)

	All	Male N=159	Female N=124
Frequently (to SQ)	37.8%	35.8%	40.3%
Sometimes (to SQ)	58.3%	61.6%	54.0%
Almost never	3.9%	2.5%	5.6%

Q2SQ: Have you ever inadvertently nodded off at your workplace? (Sample size=272)

	All	Male N=155	Female N=117
Yes	45.2%	46.5%	43.6%
No	54.8%	53.5%	56.4%

Those who only occasionally got drowsy were more likely to have experienced nodding off in the office.

Q3: During work hours, do you have a nap at lunchtime, etc? (Sample size=283)

	All	Male N=159	Female N=124
Frequently (to SQ1 and SQ2)	13.8%	21.4%	4.0%
Only when I feel sleepy (to SQ1 and SQ2)	47.0%	48.4%	45.2%
Never (to SQ3)	39.2%	30.2%	50.8%

Q3SQ1: Where have you taken naps? (Sample size=172, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=111	Female N=61
At my desk	75.0%	77.5%	70.5%
In an empty meeting room, etc	16.9%	20.7%	9.8%
In a break room	15.1%	10.8%	23.0%
In dining hall, other eating space	9.9%	7.2%	14.8%
On a park bench	3.5%	4.5%	1.6%
At an empty desk	2.9%	1.8%	4.9%
On a bench at work	2.3%	2.7%	1.6%
In a food store	1.7%	1.8%	1.6%
At an internet cafe	1.7%	1.8%	1.6%
In a napping salon	1.2%	0.9%	1.6%
Other	11.0%	8.1%	16.4%

Q3SQ2: Do you think napping is effective? Eg, removes tiredness, clears head, enable you to work better. (Sample size=172)

	All	Male N=111	Female N=61
Very effective	35.5%	36.0%	34.4%
A little effective	59.3%	58.6%	60.7%
Not effective	5.2%	5.4%	4.9%

Q3SQ3: If it were possible, would you like to take naps? (Sample size=111, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=48	Female N=63
Want to	29.7%	29.2%	30.2%
Perhaps want to	26.1%	27.1%	25.4%
Don’t want to	44.1%	43.8%	44.4%

Q4: What do you think about napping at work during lunchbreak, etc? (Sample size=283)

	All	Male N=159	Female N=124
Agree	40.3%	42.8%	37.1%
Perhaps agree	45.6%	42.8%	49.2%
Perhaps disagree	11.7%	12.6%	10.5%
Disagree	2.5%	1.9%	3.2%