Many surveys have shown that the Japanese sleep the least among those in developed countries.
In October 2023, the Health Ministry was so alarmed by its own findings that only one in two were getting six hours of sleep a night that it issued guidelines urging people to sleep a minimum of six hours, along with other tips such as to avoid heavy meals or drinking alcohol before bedtime.
Nonetheless, there is a groundswell of social change prompted by a nascent but growing shift in lifestyle behaviour towards better personal well-being. This has catalysed a domestic sleep industry that is forecast to grow from 1.3 trillion yen (S$11.8 billion) in 2021 to 5 trillion yen by 2030.
Products that promote sleep include Tential’s Bakune eye mask, which retails for 3,850 yen, while a basic single-bed airweave mattress costs 115,500 yen.
The products go beyond mattresses and sleepwear, with companies developing sleep algorithms, supplements, and even games, including one by fan-favourite Pokemon.
There is also a loose alliance of companies that swear by the philosophy of a good night’s sleep, and have instilled a positive attitude towards sleep among their employees, such as by encouraging them to switch off and avoid excessive late-night overwork.
Studies cited by the Japanese government have shown that a lack of sleep can cost companies a loss in productivity of as much as 1.03 million yen per person a year, and is tied to increased job turnover. United States think-tank Rand has estimated that the economic loss due to sleep deprivation in Japan is as much as 15 trillion yen annually.
For individuals, not sleeping enough can lead to a vicious circle of further stress, depression, and other health problems like high blood pressure and stroke, experts have found.
As someone who has long cherished the value and benefits of quality sleep, I struggle to fathom why anyone would regard it as a necessary evil.
I wear a ring from Finnish health technology firm Oura that scores sleep quality, measures heartbeat, and tracks daily activity including number of steps taken and length of idle time. Surprisingly, in what I see as a sign of growing awareness of sleep technology, some friends and even my hairdresser either use the ring themselves, or can recognise it.
I also swear by the eye mask developed by home-grown start-up Tential, whose store in Tokyo’s Toranomon business district was doing brisk business during a recent lunchtime visit.
When I began using it more than a year ago, I noticed an immediate difference in sleep quality, waking up with my eyes more refreshed.
Value of sleep
Tential, founded in February 2018 by Mr Yutaro Nakanishi, 30, has seven stores across Japan on top of an online presence.
It sells functional recovery items, such as pyjamas – under its Bakune label – that use a proprietary fabric scientifically proven to promote blood circulation and better relaxation. They have also obtained Japanese government certification as a “home medical device”.
Professor Masaki Nishida, who heads Waseda University’s Sleep Research Institute, studied the product and found the material favourable for quality sleep.
He says: “By making it a habit to sleep while wearing recovery wear, everyone from busy businessmen to athletes can get better quality sleep, reduce stress, and achieve efficient recovery.”
Tential’s chief research and development officer Kenta Funayama, 35, is a national kick-boxer who left a top pharmaceutical firm to join the start-up in May 2022, hoping to focus on preventive care given that lack of sleep has been linked to a host of health issues.
Clothes in Tential’s Bakune series are made using a proprietary fabric which promotes blood circulation and better relaxation and, hence, deeper and more optimal sleep. PHOTO: TENTIAL/INSTAGRAM
He tells me that being an athlete makes him very sensitive to slight changes in his physical condition, which is influenced by sleep.
“Now that it is possible to track and analyse sleep, it is my personal hope that this will catalyse a mindset change towards better personal well-being and care, for society to regard sleep more holistically,” Dr Funayama says.
His colleague Shinnosuke Yoshimoto, 32, was once dismissive about sleep and blighted with issues such as serious insomnia and depression, but becoming a father changed him.
The communication director says: “I don’t want my children to experience what I went through, and better sleep is the key ingredient to a healthier and more positive society.”
A pioneering Japanese company in the sleep space is airweave, which was founded in 2004 and gained global fame at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for its cardboard bed frames that were mocked as “anti-sex”.
Dr Kenta Funayama (left), a professional kick-boxer and Tential’s chief research and development officer, and communications chief Shinnosuke Yoshimoto in Tential’s store at Toranomon Hills in Tokyo ST PHOTO: WALTER SIM
Founded by Mr Motokuni Takaoka, 63, the company is again a sponsor at the Paris 2024 Games, where it will provide 16,000 fully recyclable mattresses and cardboard frames for the athletes’ village.
For the Games, each mattress is divided into three blocks – for the shoulder, waist and lower body. The thickness of the blocks – soft, moderate, firm and extra firm – can be mixed and matched according to an athlete’s needs, which are determined using artificial intelligence.
The company was born in 2004, when Mr Takaoka took over his uncle’s fishing-line business that was on the brink of bankruptcy. Having suffered a neck injury in a traffic accident in his 20s, Mr Takaoka had a eureka moment when he realised that the polyethylene material used to make fishing lines could also be used to create an interwoven mesh for sleeping on.
Published studies have shown that airweave mattresses, with their interwoven mesh, can evenly distribute body weight and regulate temperature. This was proven to help athletes run faster and build up faster reflexes, according to a study in the journal Scientific Reports.
Mr Motokuni Takaoka, 63, founder of airweave, jumping on a bed sample that was contributed to the Athletes’ Village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in this file photo taken in 2021. ST PHOTO: WALTER SIM
Gamification of sleep
Even telecommunications giant NTT is innovating and investing in sleep.
Just as Japan Airlines pioneered the Japan Sauna-bu Alliance of 206 companies that share a love for sweating it out, NTT is the driving force behind the “sleep network hub” Zakone that was launched in September 2022 and now has 102 members.
The Japanese word zakone (雑魚寝) literally means to sleep together on the floor in a huddle. Zakone’s community director Midori Sasaki, 35, says they had taken a leaf from the book of their sauna-loving friends.
Zakone gives businesses a platform to meet, network and discuss collaborative ideas over their shared values of a good night’s sleep. It hosts regular sleep seminars by experts, and other public events.
Ms Sasaki is among four leaders who are driving NTT’s sleep tech business, working with the start-up Brain Sleep founded by Professor Seiji Nishino of Stanford University. Together, they are building a sleep algorithm that helps users visualise their sleep quality, via a Brain Sleep Coin device that can be clipped onto pyjamas.
Her colleague Takahiro Umeda, 31, has even got himself certified as a sleep health consultant.
(From left to right) Mr Teppei Ogata, Ms Midori Sasaki and Mr Takahiro Umeda are part of Japan’s telecommunications giant NTT’s sleep tech business. ST PHOTO: WALTER SIM
Mr Umeda, who used to sleep less than five hours a day, now clocks at least eight hours every night. He ensures a better sleeping environment by using warmer-coloured lights and avoiding screens at night. He no longer feels tired in the day, even without drinking coffee.
“People hardly notice a dip in performance due to a lack of sleep, though it is easy to notice the leaps and bounds in improvement during peak performance,” he says.
I ask how he squares the fact that sleep preferences vary by person. Some may prefer a harder pillow, for instance, while others may prefer to sleep with air-conditioning on. He says that at the root of these individual variances is hard science that can be quantified, with improvements that can be tailored to each person.
NTT is monetising its sleep tech business through consultancy services to companies that are eyeing a foray into the sleep space, says team member Teppei Ogata, 35. This could be in any field, from aromatherapy and music to food and education.
An event to promote quality sleep was held in conjunction with World Sleep Day in March 2023, organised by the Zakone sleep network hub and involving 10 of its member companies. PHOTO: ZAKONE
There is an added element of gamification to promote sleep, through “missions” for users to soak in the morning sun or have a protein-rich breakfast. This, Mr Umeda says, can promote the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.
Also in the sleep space is The Pokemon Company. In July 2023, it released the Pokemon Sleep app that now has 15 million users worldwide, of whom half are in Japan. There are 65,000 registered Singapore players.
The app was developed with sleep expert Masashi Yanagisawa of the University of Tsukuba.
Players who use it daily can score points and learn about their sleep patterns through popular characters like Snorlax, known as the Sleeping Pokemon.
A screenshot from the Pokemon Sleep app, developed by Select Button in conjunction with The Pokemon Company. PHOTO: GAME FREAK INC
Project leader Kaname Kosugi, 35, tells me that the game has, anecdotally, helped players identify sleeping problems. The app records sounds players make during their sleep, and some players have sought professional help after realising, through the recordings, issues such as sleep apnea, when no breathing sound could be heard due to a cessation of breathing.
“During our market research, we found that many players regard sleep as an obligation. We wanted to change that image to something more positive,” he says, adding that the game focuses on sleep duration and consistency.
Sleep is tracked using a smartphone’s in-built gyro sensor, with the phone to be placed face-down next to the pillow when one sleeps. Plans are in store to link the game to wearable devices like the Fitbit or Apple Watch in the first half of 2024.
Sleeping 8½ hours is worth 100 points, and through the game, users have reported sleeping up to an hour longer each day on average.
Stress factor
Sleep can be affected by stress, which increases levels of the hormone cortisol, which is involved in the fight-or-flight response and makes it more difficult to relax.
To help users manage stress better, Yakult rolled out probiotic beverage Y1000, which has the highest concentration of its proprietary lactic acid bacteria Lacticaseibacillus paracasei strain Shirota yet. Y1000 packs 100 billion bacteria in a 100ml bottle, or 10 times that of the Yakult product sold in Singapore. Product developer Osamu Watanabe, 45, says Y1000 was born as research emerged of the health benefits to the brain-gut relationship with a higher concentration of the bacteria.
Y1000 is so popular that it once sold out, with some stores still imposing purchase restrictions despite ramped-up production.
Yakult’s Y1000 is said to reduce stress and improve sleep quality. PHOTO: YAKULT
The wellness subsidiary of beverage giant Suntory Holdings in 2022 released the sleep supplement Kaimin Sesamin.
It taps the compound sesamin, found in sesame seeds, to maintain melatonin levels.
Mr Umeda, NTT’s sleep consultant, says: “There was a time in Japan when it was wonderful to work long hours without sleep. But as that generation retires, I hope Japan can embrace a culture where individual performance can be promoted by encouraging everyone to get a good night’s sleep.”
And that is a lifestyle message that, I hope, can be heard loud and clear in other sleep-deprived nations, including Singapore.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Play your way to better health with games the doctor ordered
Glucose Goddess, Nutrition Babe: Should you trust online dietary advice?
No comments:
Post a Comment