In its new health plan, the Japanese government wants to reduce by 5% the number of people who say they suffer from lack of sleep. Two companies offer nap closets for isolation at work.
In Japan, many employees hide in the bathroom during the day to take micro-naps. Everyone knows about it and it’s neither very healthy nor very practical. Two companies offer a slightly more dignified solution, with the nap closet. The concept was presented by two major Japanese furniture companies. Itoki, an office equipment specialist, and Koyoju Gohan, a plywood manufacturer.
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This sleep box is vertical instead of horizontal because it shouldn’t take up too much space in offices. There are no windows, just a dark, somewhat cramped caulked space, well insulated from outside noise. We settle in and close. There is a very small rim, inside, to rest your buttocks and have a little support and also a small projection to rest your head. And we can do like that a mini-nap standing up.
Proof of hard work
This nap closet has just been introduced and not yet released to the market. We don’t know the price yet. But there is a big tolerance in Japan on the nap at work. It’s very common to see people slump over their desks for a few minutes in the early afternoon. We speak of “hirune”, in Japanese, for the lunch nap. The term “inemuri” means to be asleep but still present. Companies see this fatigue as proof of hard work: the employee has given everything and the company therefore encourages you to take a break to resume your day with more energy. Some companies have special spaces, a quiet room with garden chairs to lie down for a few minutes.
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The government wants its people to spend more time under the duvet. In his new health plan, he wants to reduce by 5% the number of people who say they suffer from lack of sleep, which is bad for health and for the economy. The Ministry of Health would like at least 60% of the inhabitants to be able to sleep between 6 and 8 hours a night, which is not the case at the moment. In OECD studies, Japanese adults sleep the least on average. It’s 7h52 minutes for men and 7h33 minutes for women. While in France, according to the OECD, the average exceeds 8 hours of sleep per night.
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