Is Sleeping at the Office Legally Allowed in Japan?

Japan is known to many foreigners as a country with workaholic people who stay at the office until late at night and then rush to the office the next day early in the morning. Government offices are well-disciplined and punctual in Japan. Though the official time starts at 8:30 am at many of the ward offices, even if you go at 8 am, you can get your work done! For this reason, many times I could reach the office in time (by 9 am) after finishing the work at the ward office. Government employees too are addicted to work in Japan, a thing which you may never see in other countries.

People searching for jobs in Japan would necessarily check online about the working culture of Japanese people. Most foreigners change their attitude and life to accept the difference in culture and stay longer at the office. Medical doctors recommend 8 hours of sleep for an average adult. For a healthy adult in the age group of 26 to 64, the National Sleep Foundation experts recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep every day. Considering that the working people comprise that above age group, the recommended sleeping time is 7 to 9 hours a day. Practically, most of us do not follow these guidelines, including me. I used to sleep around 6 hours a day during weekdays and around 8 hours on weekends.

If we work until late at night and rush to the office in the early morning, definitely there is a question: When do they sleep, and how many hours do they sleep, or possibly where do they sleep? Overwork produces stress and related mental problems. Here, one thing we need to understand is that all Japanese people do not stay at the office for long hours. There is a certain percentage of salarymen who are addicted to overwork or overtime payment.

In an attempt to curb the workaholic addictions, the government and corporate entities have implemented many measures. Overworking is discouraged in many offices now. It seems Toyota started a campaign called “No Zangyo Day,” meaning “No Overtime Day” once a week. Many companies followed suit by selecting their convenient day to discourage employees from staying at the office after normal working hours.

If somebody stays longer at the office, it is quite natural to get fatigued, and if continued for weeks, the body will find its own ways to relax. That includes sleeping at the office during office hours or inside the train/bus while commuting. Then, sleeping at the office during office hours kills the whole purpose of overwork! Sleeping at the office is not rare in many of the Japanese offices, especially the 2 to 3 hours after lunch.

Chances to slip into a catnap are high if we are tired of overwork. And this is what happens in most of the cases. Those who were around and active in the office would empathize with the situation and pretend as if they didn’t see anything abnormal. The immediate superior, known as Joushi (上司), usually does not take such catnaps seriously until it starts affecting the performance of that employee. Catnaps at a Japanese office are not legally allowed, but nobody takes them seriously.

Sleep and catnap are synonyms, but I prefer to use the word "catnap." Catnap is a kind of periodic rest, which in most of the type of office work does not affect the output seriously. It, of course, has many serious moral concerns, such as is it OK to sleep while we claim the benefits of our work, isn’t it a kind of laziness, etc. Taking a catnap while doing office work is less harmful and morally justifiable than taking a sleep while attending an important meeting. The speaker may be explaining important steps to revive the company or system. There too we can see some people go for a crazy catnap.

What If I Were A Muslim?

A memory from 2013 recently resurfaced in my mind, one that still makes me pause and reflect on human behavior. I was in transit at Hong Kong airport, coming from Dubai with Tokyo as my final destination. The airport was undergoing renovations, and I felt a bit disoriented while navigating the corridors toward my gate.

As I walked, a woman in a professional suit gently called me over from a corner, joined shortly by a man. It quickly became clear—they were immigration officers on special duty. I prepared myself for questions, as I had faced similar encounters many times before.

The exchange went something like this:

• Woman: Where are you from?

• Me: India

• Woman: No, I mean where you are coming from now?

• Me: Dubai, for a business meeting

• Man: Where are you going?

• Me: Tokyo

• Woman: Do you live in Japan?

• Me: Yes

• Man: Where is your family?

• Me: They are also in Japan

• Man: Do you have a Japanese identity card?

• Me: Yes (handed over my Alien Registration Card)

• Man: Please show your passport.

• Man: What is your name?

• Me: Jayaprakash (full name as in passport)

• Man (curiously): So, you are not a Muslim?

• Me: No

After this, he handed back my passport with a smile and wished me a pleasant journey. Throughout the encounter, both officers were polite, gentle, and occasionally smiled to ease the situation. I remained calm, careful not to escalate or show frustration—it’s part of their job, after all.

But as I walked to my gate, a thought struck me: what would have happened if I were Muslim? I didn’t dwell on it long; speculation rarely ends well. Yet, the question lingered.

This memory resurfaced because of a story from an Egyptian friend. He is a general manager of a U.S.-based company in Japan and travels frequently to the U.S. Every time he lands, he is sent to a separate room for questioning. The same officer handles him each time, recognizing him well—but there is no concession. The reason, he believes, is that his name signals a certain religious identity.

These incidents illustrate something subtle but powerful: bias exists everywhere. It might be based on religion, nationality, skin color, or other markers. Sometimes it’s unconscious, sometimes institutional. Denying it is easy and common—but acknowledgment is far more constructive than denial or dismissal.

Bias is part of human nature. What matters is how we recognize it, reflect on it, and ensure it doesn’t dictate our actions or cloud our judgment.

A Fresh and Rejuvenating Restart

For quite a long time, I could not update this blog. Still I used to receive some comments on the blog. I tried to reply to some of them, but admit my failure for majority of the comments. Interestingly almost 90 percent of the comments are in "Cost of living in Tokyo for a foreigner"

I realized the importance of this blog when I was away from here for almost two years. You may wonder why? This is the sixth anniversary of this blog. I started writing this blog just for fun at first and then went curious to learn 'the new platform' from where I could address. Over the past six years (including the two years of absence) I learned that the posts I wrote here were useful to many people.

Many of the visitors to this blog asked for vital information to frame their life changing decision. There may be some online resources for getting general information about Japan and the cost of living. The prime purpose of starting this blog six years before was not to write about the cost of living in Tokyo. One of my friends in Singapore asked me the details of expenses in Tokyo for her article in a magazine. After sending the details to her, I thought of sharing excerpts of that content in this blog. Somehow the search engines brought many visitors to this post.

There may be other online resources for cost of living in Tokyo. Nature of expenditures for a foreigner is different from that of a Japanese national living here. It is quite natural for people who get job in Japanese companies to go curious about Japan and the cost of living. People are eager to get some useful information, especially when they are far away from the place where they have to go and make a living. Though, there aren't any obligations, there may be a factor of social commitment to each individual to be useful with one's neighbors. In an online social platform such as this blog, every visitor is close at the length of a hand that we can feel his presence in front of our eyes.

This prompts me to restart this blog. I don't make any commitments. This blog was born on a golden week. This is the sixth golden week since then. This is the spring season and once again the nature outside has robed herself in floral dresses. The air is fresh and rejuvenating and I feel this is a good time for a restart.

Shunbun-no-hi, the Day People Offer Food to the Departed Souls

The spring starts from today. The morning sun was bright when I woke up at 6 in the morning. When going to bed yesterday, I was prepared to sleep until 9 in the morning, but in the middle, I got a phone call from Google (unknown caller), and he introduced himself as “David”, who was assigned to assist me to solve the domain registration issues. David told him he will call at 7 in the morning. I had to wake up early, though today is a national holiday in Japan.

People celebrate the start of the spring season, the name of which in Japanese is Shunbun-no-hi. On Friday, one of my colleagues told me he will go to stay with his parents since we have holidays for 3 consecutive days. Shunbun-no-hi was actually yesterday, that is, on Sunday, the 20th of March (yesterday). When the national holiday falls on Sunday, the holiday will be shifted to the next day. That was the reason we got the 3-day-long holiday, which is called Sanrenkyu. The day and night would be equal today. It is surprising that our ancestors possessed the knowledge of celestial movements and watched the nature closely. Shunbun-no-hi is the Spring Equinox. The Autumn Equinox will be in September. There would be noticeable differences in weather from today.

While waiting for David’s call, I searched for Shunbun-no-hi. It is believed that the Emperor of Japan enforced the celebration of the spring equinox in the eighth century. Shunbun-no-hi is only one day, but the tradition is to observe seven days of rituals, three days before and three days after the Shunbun-no-hi. This period is called Haru no higan. Shunbun-no-hi usually falls on March 20 or 21 but could be between 19 and 22. The exact date of the Shunbun-no-hi holiday next year will be decided after February of the current year. Some types of Sakura trees start blooming during this period.

Spring starts after the Shunbun-no-hi, and the weather becomes warmer. In other words, this period marks the end of the winter season. The tradition of observing the Haru-no-higan originated from Buddhist beliefs. Higan means another world. When the day and night become equal in length, Buddha appears on earth to guide the stray souls to the path of nirvana.

My colleague didn’t know the history of the Vernal equinox. When asked, he told us his parents used to offer botamochi (red bean paste-covered rice balls) to the ancestors. Ancestors would consume this food and proceed with their journey to the next world. Giving food to the departed souls and helping them to make their way in their eternal journey is a great belief and ritual. We also have a similar custom of offering food to the ancestors. Around this same period, we celebrate Holi, the festival of colors in India. 

“Shunbun-no-hi” is written in Japanese as 春分の日. The kanji 春 can be read as Shun and Haru. This kanji is used to write “spring.”. After attending the call from David, I became curious to know more about Shunbun-no-hi (a thing that never happened in the past 8 years). The Shunbun-no-hi becoming a holiday in Japan was not long ago. It was in 1948 when the United States decided to rewrite the constitution and separate Shinto religious practices from state affairs.

Years ago, this holiday was known as Higan no Nakaba, the translation of which is “Middle of the Equinoctial Week.”  Many people, including my colleague, might have forgotten the history of Shunbun-no-hi. Many of them know it as a public holiday. For foreigners like me, this day marks the start of spring in Japan. Sakura flowers will start blooming all around, and the climate will be pleasant.