Japan awakens public on treatments for sleep disorders

by SHOKO TAMAKI
March 20, 2026

Health ministry literature stresses the importance of getting enough sleep to improve a person's health and well-being. (Shoko Tamaki illustration

Tens of millions of Japanese have long complained about sleep-related problems, from difficulties falling asleep to daytime drowsiness, and waking up still feeling tired despite having seemingly slept long enough.

Indeed, Japan rests at the bottom of an international ranking of average hours of sleep per night per individual.

In the face of the chronic public health problem, the government will direct patients with sleep issues into promptly seeking care by allowing medical facilities to advertise services for sleep disorders.

Under the Medical Care Law, health care facilities are not permitted to arbitrarily name a service or department.

Patients with sleep conditions typically sought treatment in internal medicine, psychiatric, otorhinolaryngology or neurology departments as there were no such departments that said they specialize in sleep disorders.

And it was also common for patients not to know which department to consult for a range of sleep-related problems.

In March, a panel of experts under the health ministry gave hospitals and clinics the green light to publicize that they treat sleep disorders, the first approval of a new department name since 2008.

According to the Japanese Society of Sleep Research, a group of sleep specialists at universities, there were a number of cases where patients were reluctant to go to a psychiatric department for sleep disorders due to the stigma of making an appointment.

The result was a long delay in being provided with needed care.

“People experiencing sleep issues can go straight to see a sleep specialist without waiting too long,” said Naohisa Uchimura, president of the society and president of Kurume University, hailing the ministry’s move. “It will likely lead to early detection and treatment of patients before their symptoms worsen.”

A 57-year-old self-employed man in Fukuoka Prefecture is one of tens of thousands of people who might have sought therapy much sooner if he had been aware that his poor health has something to do with his sleep.

Symptoms began to appear when he was in his 40s. The man found it difficult to get out of bed due to fatigue despite sufficient hours of sleep. He often struggled with daytime drowsiness, including even when driving a car for a short distance.

His wife noticed that he “snored loudly” and that there were times he “did not breathe” while asleep.

He saw a doctor at a general hospital where his child went, and he was referred to a specialist on sleep medicine at the same hospital.

After an examination, the man was diagnosed with sleep apnea syndrome in which a patient stops breathing repeatedly during sleep. The condition occurs when the throat and tongue muscles relax excessively while sleeping, blocking or narrowing the airflow.

Loud snoring is a common symptom exhibited by people with the condition.

Since the diagnosis more than 10 years ago, he goes to bed each night with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which keeps his airway open by forcing air into it, through a face mask connected to the device.

“It was amazing to feel completely refreshed,” he recalled the sensation in the morning after using the machine for the first time.

He also gets more exercise and adheres to healthy diets to improve his health. He no longer snores, according to his family.

“I urge people to see a sleep doctor as soon as possible if they have sleep issues, but are shy about making an appointment,” the man said.

People going without adequate sleep or poor-quality sleep poses risks of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular illness and depression, according to reports in and outside of Japan.

In addition, sleep deficiency in workers performing delicate tasks can result in catastrophic consequences.

The lack of sufficient sleep among technicians and engineers is thought to be a culprit in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the explosion of the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger the same year.

In the former, one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine went out of control during a test and spewed huge amounts of radiation, immediately killing about 30 people.

In the latter, the disintegration of the Challenger, which occurred shortly after liftoff at Cape Canaveral in Florida, killed all seven crew members.

In Japan, sleep deficiency is a widespread issue and at the worst level by global standards.

In the health ministry’s 2023 national health and nutrition survey, 26.9 percent of people 20 or older replied that they did not get enough quality sleep.

Of 33 countries in a 2024 OECD survey report, Japan was ranked at the bottom, clocking an average of seven hours and 42 minutes for sleep duration per night.

Poor sleep can lead to huge economic losses because it lowers productivity and heightens risks for accidents.

An estimate by Rand Corp., a U.S. think tank, in 2016 showed that the United States had the greatest economic losses in the world associated with a lack of sleep, at $411 billion (64 trillion yen), followed by Japan, at $138 billion.

But in terms of the ratio against gross domestic product, Japan’s share was 2.92 percent, the largest globally.

Uchimura pointed out that Japan as a society has traditionally belittled the importance of getting adequate sleep.

“There have been times that working hard by sacrificing sleep was considered proof of how committed you are to your work,” he said. “Sufficient sleep is essential in staying healthy, and children should grow up with the understanding of the significance of sufficient sleep.”

In addition to sleep apnea, sleep issues come in various forms, including insomnia, where patients wake up many times during the night; hypersomnia, where they experience strong daytime sleepiness; and restless legs syndrome, in where they feel a strong urge to move their legs while resting.