In Japan, we sleep “little but well”.
Life expectancy is exceptionally long in Japan with 87 years on average for women and 81 years for men. The number of centenarians is particularly high. Among their secrets of longevity, a healthy, vegetable and poor diet in sugar, as well as a spiritual state of mind, proximity to nature and a regular practice of physical activity. But that’s not all, the hour when they get up would also help live longer.
According to the adage, “the world belongs to those who get up early”. In the Japanese archipelago nicknamed “the country of the rising sun”, it is all the more true: custom wants the Japanese to activate early to start the day well. In the morning, they took advantage of a long time before their work to practice a gentle physical activity such as yoga, stretching or gym as well as relaxing activities such as meditation, reading or calligraphy. They are exposed to natural light, a source of vitamin D which is fundamental to structure the rhythms of sleep.
In Japan, we get up early, even very early. The Japanese follow the principle of chronobiology: they try to stall their sleep schedules with the natural cycles of the sun. According to several studies, including one conducted on a cohort of more than 400,000 people and published in Chronobiology International, living to the rhythm of the sun improves the quality of the nights, promotes the secretion of endorphins and increases life expectancy. The Japanese generally get up “around 7 am in winter” and “between 5 and 6h in summer”. When the sun sets, they slow down the pace and stop physical and brain activities so as not to over-stimulate heart energy and go to bed relatively early as soon as they feel the first signs of fatigue, often before 9 p.m.
They do not sleep continuously from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. “The Japanese sleep in a split way (for example, they sleep from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., wake up to do relaxing meditation type activities, then go back to 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.). Their average is around 6 hours of sleep per night , but their sleep is more restful and their energy level over the day more constant “, Relates Caroline Rome, sleeping expert in her book “Le Sommeil found (ed. Solar). The Japanese also take advantage of every moment of free time to stay rested throughout the day.”It is common to sleep in the stations, in class or on the steps of a shopping center; It is not well seen. ” This is what they call “the INEMURI” which means “to sleep while being present”. The practice of nap is also more democratized than in France. “It is even compulsory in many Japanese companies“Reports the expert.
