- 17 Jul 2002
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The Economist published an article about sleep quality around the world.
You can see the ranking in the article. The last seven countries are all in Asia. South Korea and Japan are at the bottom of the list. The average sleeping time during the week it ranges between 6.8 and 7 hours in Western countries while in Japan it is only 6.1 hours. Sleep efficiency in the West is comprised between 85.6 and 86.8, why in Japan it is 83.4, over 2 points lower than the worst rated Western countries and one point lower even than South Korea, which is second to last, showing that Japan is really in a category of its own when it comes to sleep quality.
I am not surprised though as Japanese houses and apartments have virtually no sound isolation, even brand new construction as I have been able to experience myself this month. It's very hard to get a good night's sleep in Japan, even with earplugs.
In my experience (having stayed in over 40 different hotels or Airbnb's in Japan over the years) the best way to limit the impact of street noise is to stay on a high floor (hotel or apartment), usually the higher the better. I suppose that's also partly why higher floor apartments are more expensive in Japan (in addition to having more natural light and maybe a better view if it's not surrounded by other tall buildings).
You can see the ranking in the article. The last seven countries are all in Asia. South Korea and Japan are at the bottom of the list. The average sleeping time during the week it ranges between 6.8 and 7 hours in Western countries while in Japan it is only 6.1 hours. Sleep efficiency in the West is comprised between 85.6 and 86.8, why in Japan it is 83.4, over 2 points lower than the worst rated Western countries and one point lower even than South Korea, which is second to last, showing that Japan is really in a category of its own when it comes to sleep quality.
I am not surprised though as Japanese houses and apartments have virtually no sound isolation, even brand new construction as I have been able to experience myself this month. It's very hard to get a good night's sleep in Japan, even with earplugs.
In my experience (having stayed in over 40 different hotels or Airbnb's in Japan over the years) the best way to limit the impact of street noise is to stay on a high floor (hotel or apartment), usually the higher the better. I suppose that's also partly why higher floor apartments are more expensive in Japan (in addition to having more natural light and maybe a better view if it's not surrounded by other tall buildings).
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