Insomnia and the Impact on Japan's Work Culture

This chapter explores the high rates of insomnia in Japan and its influence on the country's work culture. It discusses the economic costs of sleep loss, cultural factors contributing to sleep issues, the concept of karoshi, and the need for a healthy work-life balance.

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Challenging our assumptions about sleep

Sleep is essential to our lives, but our perception of how it functions in our non-waking life is not always well understood. So in the mires of our busy daily lives do we overlook sleep by seeing it as a means of refilling our energy for a productive day? By questioning this assumption, one term rolls from out of the haze: The ‘Circadian Rhythm’.

Dr. Kaylee Byers speaks with Dr. Hiroki Ueda from the University of Tokyo in the Faculty of Medicine on demystifying the links between our sleep and genomics. Then neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Coogan shares the connection between sleep and ADHD. Finally, we hear from Dr. Ueda and Dr. Hiroshi Ono, from Hitotsubashi University Business School, on how their homeland of Japan is reckoning with an off-balance relationship with sleep and work.

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Highlights:

(06:37) - Clocks in our bodies, understanding Circadian Rythms

(10:17) - Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder and later sleep, a chicken or egg dilemma

(15:19) - Challenging overwork in Japan and the importance of sleep

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Learn-A-Long: https://bit.ly/47PXwuv

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Resources:

Molecular Mechanisms of REM Sleep | Neurosci

The ability to dream may be genetic | Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC)

Next-Generation Mice Genetics for Circadian Studies | Neuromethods