A famous proverb says time is money. So too is sleep, it seems.
A study published in Rand Health Quarterly in 2017 examined the economic burden of insufficient sleep across five OECD countries: Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. It estimated that the various health and mortality risks from lack of sleep could lead to substantial loss — up to $411 billion annually, or 2.28% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the U.S., and as much as $138 billion for Japan, translating to 2.92% of its GDP, the highest such figure among all five nations.
It’s no secret that Japan has a sleep problem. People here get an average of seven hours and 22 minutes of shut-eye per night, the shortest among 33 countries surveyed by the OECD in 2021.
In recent years, however, the nation is waking up to the fact that poor sleep could have profound effects not just on individual well-being but also on labor productivity and other socioeconomic outcomes. This has given rise to a new market for products and services promising to facilitate longer and more fulfilling slumber.
“It’s said that the three key elements of health are nutrition, exercise and sleep; however, sleep is the one aspect that we cannot easily perceive ourselves,” Masashi Yanagisawa, one of the world’s leading researchers on sleep, told a press conference in July.
Headed by Yanagisawa, the University of Tsukuba’s International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS) was announcing a partnership with the city of Tsukuba on improving the quality of sleep, with plans to conduct experiments with approximately 400 municipal employees.
“Poor sleep increases the risk of illness and sleep disorders including sleep deprivation directly affect both mental and physical performance,” said Yanagisawa, who is known for discovering orexin, a neuropeptide that regulates arousal, wakefulness and appetite. He added that research showed sleep impacted productivity far more than nutrition or exercise do.
“Difficulty in controlling emotions can also harm relationships and trust — therefore, improving (sleep) is extremely important for the workplace.”
The wearable recovery
As a teen, Yutaro Nakanishi’s goal was to become a professional soccer player. He trained day and night, and eventually qualified for the Inter-High School Sports Festival in his third year — but was diagnosed with angina just before the tournament.
That setback, he says, formed the foundation for the venture he launched in 2018 when he was 23.
“I realized when I began working that people have gaps in their literacy about health and getting into good physical condition,” he says. “Having experienced illness myself, I know how important it is to stay healthy when taking on new challenges.”
His start-up, Tential, develops and markets the Bakune brand of sleepwear, which helps the body with recovery during the night, as well as clothing and insoles based on insights collected from athletes and physical therapists. Tential claims its pajamas, made by a specialized fiber blended with ultra-fine ceramic powder, promote blood circulation by radiating the body's own heat. The company has sold 700,000 units so far with prices starting at ¥8,000 for individual items and going as high as ¥39,000 for sets.
Tential is among a growing number of firms betting on the so-called sleep tech market that utilizes AI and other technologies, such as sensors and apps, to collect biological activity data in order to analyze sleep conditions and aim for improvement through various devices, systems and services.
The Yano Research Institute has estimated that the sleep tech market in 2022 was approximately ¥6 billion ($40.5 million) based on business revenue. By 2026, it expects that figure to jump nearly three-fold to ¥17.5 billion ($115 million).
The market spans a range of products such as bedding, home appliances, apps and games, to corporate services focused on health management and new product development related to sleep, the report said.
“Additionally, there is a growing body of research suggesting a relationship between sleep and factors such as health and productivity. Coupled with the ongoing strong social interest in sleep, this is viewed as one of the factors driving market expansion.”
The nation once known for corporate warriors clocking in dozens of overtime hours every week appears to be embracing the benefits of a good night’s rest. In 2017, the term “suimin fusai” (sleep debt) was nominated for buzzword for the year, leading to a surge in attention toward the phenomenon.
Surveys show Japanese people are harboring significant concerns about sleep. A July study conducted by bedding manufacturer Nishikawa’s research arm involved 10,000 participants aged 18 to 79 nationwide. The results indicated that 47.2% of respondents showed potential signs of insomnia, with over 50% of those in their 20s to 40s affected.
“I believe the market itself will expand,” says Nakanishi. Tential’s main customer base consists of people in their 40s and 50s, he says, who are health-conscious and have comfortable incomes.
“But with so many products flooding the market, consumers need to be wary about whether they are backed by science,” he says. “We need to establish governance and rules within the industry to avoid companies with malicious intent or unethical marketing practices.”
A bad debt to rack up
To address questions about the quality of the rapid increase in products and services, a sleep support certification system based on guidelines set by the trade ministry was launched in July.
Operated by the Sleep Healthcare Association, an organization that counts such major companies as Kao, Sharp and Taisho Pharmaceutical among its membership, the certification system primarily targets products and services widely offered in the health care sector, excluding medical devices and food.
These include hardware such as wearables and sleep detection devices, as well as AI and software that analyze data collected from such gadgets.
“Only products and services backed by trustworthy scientific evidence will be certified,” says Kenta Funayama, head of the association’s self-regulation standards and certification committee.
He says so far three products — Tential’s Bakune comforter, Sharp’s Plasmacluster air conditioner (with sleep support AI) and MTG's Newpeace Breath brand of pillows — have been certified since the program’s launch, with the next round of evaluations scheduled for November.
"There are several factors contributing to the growing interest in sleep health care,” Funayama says. “With wearable devices providing sleep scores, for example, sleep can now be visualized, helping increase public interest. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, people stayed home, leading to a heightened awareness of health.”
Despite the growing interest in sleep, however, statistics show the Japanese are sleeping less.
According to the 2022 National Health and Nutrition Survey, 20.6% of respondents said they haven’t had enough rest from sleep over the past month, a figure that has significantly increased for both men and women since 2009.
In terms of average sleep duration, 32.7% of men and 36.2% of women were in the range of six hours to less than seven hours, while the ratio of those sleeping less than six hours was 37% for men and 39.9% for women.
“I believe the main cause of sleep deprivation is busyness,” says Hidora Kaga, managing director of bedding manufacturer Shinohara Kagaku and a certified sleep health instructor, an accreditation bestowed by the Japan Sleep Education System.
“Working adults typically arrive at the office around 8 or 8:30 a.m., and in urban areas, only a limited number of people can live close to their workplaces. As a result, many wake up around 6:30 a.m. or even 6 a.m.,” he says.
“While 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep is essential, getting to bed by 10 or 10:30 p.m. is quite challenging. After returning home and spending time on social media or watching TV, it's nearly impossible to go to sleep at that hour. Consequently, people often end up going to bed around midnight or 1 a.m., showing up to work sleep-deprived."
Acute sleep deprivation can cause daytime drowsiness and lower motivation, ultimately reducing work performance. It also affects the autonomic nervous system, leading to a decrease in leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite, while increasing ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates it.
As a result, a person’s appetite can actually increase. Overeating can lead to obesity, which raises the risk of various lifestyle-related diseases, such as hypertension and dyslipidemia.
Kaga, who runs a blog where he offers sleep-related advice, says that ultimately people need to sleep a healthy number of hours every night, and increasing the “quality” of sleep through various products and services won’t compensate for a lack of sleep quantity.
“It’s like someone very thirsty saying they’re fine (and that) they can get by because they have a small bottle of expensive, quality water. That’s not enough. Water is water, regardless of quality. If you’re thirsty, you need to satisfy your thirst by drinking enough tap water or whatever is available. (It’s) the same with sleep.”
That said, Kaga says breathable bedding and mattresses with the right firmness matching individual tastes and habits, for example, do improve the sleep experience, especially for those in their 30s and older.
“When you’re young, your body can handle sleeping on hard floors and other uncomfortable surfaces,” he says. “But as you get older, your body requires more comfortable and healthy bedding to allow more satisfying sleep.”
The sleep tourist
In 2022, telecommunications giant NTT East and its subsidiary, NTT DX Partner, launched Zakone, a cross-industry community that connects firms interested in developing products and services that will improve sleep.
Calling itself a “sleep network hub,” 164 companies from a diverse range of businesses have so far become members of Zakone, including Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Haseko Corporation, Takara Tomy and Nestle Japan, as well as Tential and S’uimin, a startup headed by the University of Tsukuba’s Yanagisawa.
“Our aim is to create new projects through collaborations between companies,” says Midori Sasaki, Zakone’s community leader and NTT East’s sleep tech business marketer.
“For example, we’re looking at concepts like music and sleep, and creating experiences around that, including live music events designed for falling asleep or composing music for better sleep,” she says.
According to Sasaki, Zakone hosts monthly meetups and engages in awareness activities through its owned media, showcasing Zakone projects and the initiatives of participating companies.
“We’re also exploring the connection between saunas and sleep, or food and sleep,” she says. “Travel and sleep also fit into this framework.”
As border restrictions were eased following the pandemic, interest in travel soared. Coupled with a heightened awareness of health, the trend has spawned a new subgenre in the travel industry known as “sleep tourism.” HTF Market Intelligence estimated in a report that the worldwide sector is worth more than $640 billion and is forecast to grow by another $400 billion between 2023 and 2028.
There are hotels that offer recovery wear to their guests, or those that provide bedding intended to maximize the sleep experience. Zakone member and capsule hotel chain operator Nine Hours, for example, offers the 9h Sleep Fitscan service that, upon guests’ consent, measures the quality of sleep and breathing conditions for those staying at the chain’s cylindrical pods.
It’s not just about sleeping. Studies show that daytime behaviors significantly impact nighttime rest, Sasaki says. To that end, Zakone recently hosted a comprehensive tour in Kagawa Prefecture where guests experience fishing for yellowtail and oyster farming while soaking up plenty of sunlight.
Research from the University of Tsukuba’s IIIS has published findings on the relationship between oysters and sleep, indicating that the rich protein content in the oysters effectively supports zinc absorption, leading to improvements in sleep quality.
At night, guests retreat to the Seto Clas Aji, a hotel with a view of the Seto Inland Sea equipped with sleep-enhancing pajamas, mattresses, pillows, skin care products, aroma and more, all produced by Zakone member companies.
“We want to promote regional charm and contribute to regional revitalization,” Sasaki says. “Tourism resources extend beyond just sightseeing; Japan has rich natural landscapes and a vibrant food culture, and we plan to combine these with activities that promote better sleep.”
In Nagano Prefecture, the Hotel Grand Phenix located in the Okushiga Kogen ski resort offers an optional snoring analysis plan that allows for a simple examination of sleep apnea, a disorder that affects approximately 1 in 10 individuals.
“We’ve been focusing on well-being for around two years now, and sleep is one of the factors we feel is important,” says Nobuhiro Tajima, the president of the hotel. His firm also produces the Zuica brand of alpine resort apparel, which includes sleepwear.
“I wouldn’t say sleep is central when it comes to tourism just yet,” he says, “but I do sense there’s a growing number of travelers that place an emphasis on it.”
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