Not surprisingly, only 54% of Japanese respondents to the "bedroom poll" felt they got a good night's sleep every or almost every night. According to the US National Sleep Foundation's poll of sleeping habits around the world, Japanese workers sleep, on average, for just six hours 22 minutes on work nights – less than those in any other country. Japan's legions of salaried workers have more reason than most to give in to the urge for an afternoon nap. Hugo Inc, an internet consulting company based in Osaka, has a more flexible approach: employees can take a 30-minute siesta any time between 1pm and 4pm. "I think my work performance has improved since I started taking naps." "If I use a calculator when I'm sleepy, I have to double-check my work for fear of making mistakes, so it takes longer," Ikuko Yamada, who works in accounts, told the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
Introduced two years ago on the orders of the firm's chairman, Isamu Okuta, it has proved a huge hit.
Okuta, a home renovation firm near Tokyo, allows its employees to take a 20-minute power nap at their desks or in the staff lounge. In Japan, where workers get less sleep on work nights than those in other countries, more and more companies are encouraging employees to sleep on the job, convinced that it leads to better work performance. It's a daily struggle known to office workers the world over: a productive morning rewarded with a decent lunch, and then, at about 3pm, the leaden eyelids and urge to snatch 40 winks.
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