Getting more sleep among aims of government health plan

Apr 20, 2023 | News On Japan

TOKYO - The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will set a goal for 60% of the people in Japan to get sufficient sleep, defined as between six to eight or nine hours depending on age, by fiscal 2032.

This target will be included in the ministry’s next national health promotion plan, Health Japan 21, which will begin in the fiscal year starting April 2024.

Health Japan 21 aims to promote the prolonging of years of healthy life through numerical targets for prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, diet and exercise. The upcoming plan, which is the third version of the ministry’s health promotion measures since 2000, is expected to set about 50 goals and likely to be decided in June.

Behind the sleep goal are the results of recent studies in which lack of sleep has connections to mental and physical disorders.

The average amount of sleep in Japan is shorter than it is overseas. Men in Japan average 7 hours 52 minutes and women in the nation average 7 hours 33 minutes. The ministry aims to increase the percentage of people who get enough sleep time by 5 percentage points from the current level. ...continue reading

Five Dead and Six Missing as Chiba Suffers Another Major Flood

Typhoon No. 25 has left five people dead and six missing after bringing record rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides to the Kanto region, with Chiba Prefecture suffering its third major flood in just over a month and approximately 42,330 households losing power.

Road to Imperial Palace's Otemon Gate Flooded by Typhoon

The road leading to Otemon Gate at Tokyo's Imperial Palace was flooded on September 22 after heavy rain from a typhoon caused water in the surrounding moat to overflow.

Japan Pushes India to Final Ball in Historic Sano Cricket Match

Japan came within two runs of producing one of international cricket's biggest upsets on September 22, pushing reigning T20 world champion India to the final ball before losing a rain-shortened match at Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.

Japan Secures More Medals as Asian Games Day 4 Intensifies

Japan's Asian Games campaign continued across a packed Day 4 schedule on September 22, with the women's badminton team securing another medal, the women's basketball team completing an unbeaten group stage, and Japan adding a historic bronze medal in mixed air rifle shooting as several of the host nation's biggest medal opportunities moved into the evening.

Japan Takes 12 Medals on Asian Games Day 3

Japan collected another 12 medals on Day 3 of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on September 21, with 17-year-old swimmer Shin Ohashi and karateka Kakeru Nishiyama winning gold, while the host nation also advanced strongly in women's volleyball, baseball, soccer, handball and hockey.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Politics NEWS

Japan Warns of Anti-Japanese Sentiment Rising in China

China held commemorative events across the country on September 18 to mark the 95th anniversary of the Mukden Incident, the 1931 railway explosion that Japan's Kwantung Army used as a pretext to seize Manchuria and which became a major turning point in the deterioration of relations between Japan and China.

Takaichi Reshuffles Cabinet To Steady Markets And Party

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi launched her first cabinet reshuffle since taking office, keeping core economic, foreign-policy and security ministers in place while replacing a broad group of other ministers in an attempt to stabilize her government before a difficult autumn of tax, budget, monetary policy and diplomatic battles.

Japan Confirms Global Hawk Drone Crashed Off Tottori

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force has concluded that a large Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that lost communication off Tottori Prefecture on September 15 crashed into the sea.

Takaichi Retains Core LDP Team

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi launched a new Liberal Democratic Party executive team on September 16, retaining most of the party’s senior leadership while pledging to unite the government and ruling party to overcome a difficult political and economic environment.

Global Hawk Reconnaissance Drone Missing Off Tottori

A Japan Air Self-Defense Force Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft went missing over international waters about 50 kilometers north of Tottori Prefecture on September 15, with floating debris and oil later found in the area where communications were lost.

Tax Cut Plan Leaves Funding Gap As BOJ Decision Nears

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government entered a decisive political week on September 15 after approving an outline for food-tax relief and household payouts without settling how the package will be funded, keeping fiscal concerns alive just days before the Bank of Japan is expected to decide whether to raise interest rates again.

Japan to Cut Food Consumption Tax to 1% for Two Years

Japan's government is set to approve tax reform guidelines on September 15 that will reduce the consumption tax on food from the current 8% to 1% for two years starting in April 2027 as part of measures to ease the burden of rising prices.

LDP-Backed Koja Wins Okinawa Governor Race

Genta Koja, a former deputy mayor of Naha who accepts the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago, won the Okinawa gubernatorial election on September 13, defeating incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki and bringing an end to 12 years of prefectural administrations committed to blocking the project.

< 2 3 4 5 >