Nobody sleeps like the Japanese do
Outdoor Music Festival
Napping at 3AM Karaoke
After Fireworks Show
Napping in Shibuya
Apparently there is a Facebook group to post photos of people sleeping in crazy or uncomfortable looking positions in Japan… This is actually a really good idea. The group is called simply, “Nobody sleeps like the Japanese do.”
Here are a few pictures which I have taken recently, and another which was recently posted on JapanToday.
Why does this happen so frequently in Japan? I think there are several factors. First, the presence and importance of alcohol in Japanese society. Unlike in America, in Japan you can often buy a can of alcohol (beer or chu-hai) for the same price as a can of soda. There aren’t any crazy open container laws so you can happy drink your can of beer on the street or even on the train. Although the latter of which is considered by many to be bad manners, you can still see many tired salarymen doing it. Cheap all-you-can-drink plans can be tacked on to many dinners, and let’s not forget all-you-can-drink karaoke either. Alcohol serves an important role in Japanese society; it allows an escape from the rigid confines of fitting into the group. When drunk, nearly any act can be forgiven. Simply put, most people need alcohol to left off steam, relax, and say and do things which the rigid Japanese society does not allow them to do otherwise. I could go on about this subject in more detail, but I’ll leave it at that.
Second, the safety of Japan: you can generally pass out on the sidewalk without fear of someone stealing your wallet or attacking you. Third, the tendancy of Japanese to simply look the other way when they see something that does not fit in allows them to simply overlook people passed out around them.
Additionally, as we all know, Japan is a small island inhabited by 127 million people, and there just isn’t enough space to go around, so people are used to living and sleeping in cramped quarters. But I still can’t understand how these positions could be comfortable and so commonly seen.
I think there are a couple other factors at work here:
1. People use taxis so they don`t worry about drunk driving
2. The Japanese are typically sleep deprived and then “crash” when drunk.
This is great. I can’t wait to come to Japan someday and sing karaoke all night & then fall asleep in a recycling bin!
Nice group to share such pics. I should check out this group’s pics. One other thing apart from safety to fall on the sidewalk and dose off, is that there are no stray dogs that will have the pleasure of taking a leak on such people.
If only pics from office meetings allowed there would be tonnes but mind you they would be the comfortable sleeping positions. It is interesting (read annoying) that people can sleep in meetings even when it has only a handful of participants, and the time of the day does not matter - people can dose off and not even be expected to hear or remember what was said in the meeting. There is no stigma against sleeping in meetings while in other cultures, I guess you could be chided for dosing off.