Although Japan suffered a lot from World War II, it recovered quickly and experienced the post-war economic miracle. Now, it is the third largest economy in the world (used to be the second). Income inequality is very low (ranked 78th). Infrastructure is great. It has a functioning democratic government. People's rights are generally protected. Then we should expect that Japanese people are happy, right? Not really.
(Japan's GDP until 2017, World Bank)
We see that many countries, including Japan, while having significant economic growth, did not experience an increase in subjective well-being. The first scholar who studied this was Richard Easterlin, an economist. He found that an increase in income level over time does not lead to higher subjective well-being, especially in richer countries. This is commonly known as the Easterlin Paradox. Japan is probably the best example because of the huge mismatch of the rapid economic growth and subjective well-being. The average of reported life satisfaction had barely changed from 1958 to 1990, even when real GDP per capita had increased roughly by a factor of 6 (Frey, 2008, p. 39). This should not be too surprising, though. We all should have known that national income or personal income does not dictate our happiness. There are many factors that determine our happiness. And there are many things that we can produce that are not good for us.
The World Happiness Report, an annual publication by the U.N., studies and ranks the happiness level of all countries in the world. There are six areas it takes into account: price adjusted GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy at birth, social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity, perceived corruption.* In all these areas, Japan is ranked high only in life expectancy. Overall, it is ranked 53rd, which is a huge mismatch with its economic size.
While the crime rate is very low and there are relatively very few killings in Japan, people kill themselves. The suicide rate has been very high. About 16.6 out of every 100,000 people end their lives each year. It is the 5th highest among OECD Countries. The government says it is the 6th highest in the world (although according to WHO, it is way below that). Suicide rate is one of the useful indicators of the mental health and well-being of a country, and this shows us that many Japanese people feel miserable. Fortunately, the number has been decreasing and it is at its lowest within the past 22 years.
(Red: Japan; Blue: Korea; Purple: US)
There are many reasons that contribute to the unhappiness of the Japanese people. One is career. Long working hours and stressful environment are common in Japan. "Overwork death" (Karoshi) is a phenomenon in Japan which people die from heart attack, stroke, suicide, etc. due to stress, fatigue and so on caused by extremely long hours of work. Sadly, it is not rare at all to see it on the news. There is also what is called "power harassment", which is a term that refers to the situation in which a person is harassed or bullied by someone who has a higher status (usually at the workplace). It is not hard to imagine why people may suffer from the abuse of power when the culture tells you that those who have a higher position than you or are older than you have a higher status, and you should respect them. A lot of times, people try to obey their supervisor/boss and avoid speaking up or talking back.
Another reason is probably the lack of social connections. Many people do not see their friends or family enough, and this is partly from what is discussed above, long working hours. I barely get to see my friends in Tokyo because they are always busy with work and, if not work, studying for some kind of qualification exam. We see that hikkikomori (social withdrawal) is not rare in Japan. It is estimated that 540,000 people aged between 15 and 39 in Japan have not left home and interacted with anyone for six months. About 1.2% of the whole population have been in that condition.
For most of us, whether it is in our consciousness or the back of our mind, happiness is what we ultimately yearn for. However, as individuals and as a society, we do not seem to be doing much to keep us on the right track, right?
Reference:
Frey, B.S. (2008). Happiness: A Revolution in Economics. The MIT Press. p.39
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