Yo, I don’t know who they interviewed in the US, but 70% of the US allegedly being happy while over half are behind on rent according to US Census is wild.

Living in Japan must be like working in customer service but being unable to take your mask off at the end of your shift.

幼少のころから言われてきたよ。人並みに努力して、人並みにいい大学に行って、人並みに社会貢献して、人並みに恥ずかしくない人生を生きなさいってね。そんな「人並み」な人間なんて見たことないけどな

I had the opportunity last year to visit a student my age in Japan and his family, and I was almost a little shocked to see how happy him and his family were. And not just the fake performative happiness-- it was pretty clear by living with him for a while that he had a really strong connection with his family and made time for his hobbies and socializing with his friends. Hell, he even had a penchant for sarcasm (which I know is a rarity for Japanese people). Seeing guys like him gives me hope for the Japanese youth even though I know there are not many others like him.

Bro I'm Indian & there's no way 80% of adults are happy in India! This survey seems a bit fishy

If you look at it from a certain angle, Companies making their employees stay after hours to do unpaid overwork, is kinda opposing the citizen's right to a good, healthy life. Some might say it's antipatriotic. There's an easy and expensive way to circumvent this. Just hire more people and have a good work-life balance.

I just came back from Japan, I was there with a large group of people from Mexico. We were all amazed and even kind of jealous. Really seems like a perfect country in so many senses. This is really a surprise, especially children, they looked so happy. On the other hand, Mexico is chaos, we have crime, insecurity, pollution, bad economy and the government is a mess and yet we are quite happy all the time.

I grew up in Japan and spent half my life there and loved it but there’s definitely a shame culture that put me down so much. Im still working through regaining my confidence from that because there was just so many social rules that in hindsight took away a lot of my ability to be myself and be confident in who I am and I feel like that’s the same for many people out there.

I am Japanese, and these surveys are not very helpful, because Japanese people tend to give low scores when they rate something. These surveys are like saying that Japanese food is miserable because the average restaurant score is low in Japan.

It was alarming when i asked my elementary school students what they thought of the western countries and their response was 自由(Jiyu) which means freedom. That was sad to hear. The rigidity of the Japanese society is depressing Japanese ppl.

I am happy but maybe it is because I am not adult yet

So Japanese are unhappy in Japan but do not immigrate abroad. On the other hand, non Japanses are happy in their own countries but immigrate abroad...🤷‍♂

I feel not pushing kids so hard for school and stuff and having healthier work-life balance for adults would definitely help

4:05 Italian here, can confirm we are 1% happier than Japanese people

Hi Joey! This was such and interesting video! Oddly, my husband and I have discussed this many times. Neither of us has been to Japan (and we are both in our mid to late 50s, so we may never make it to Japan), but I am (not a weeb) very much in love with the culture. I know that they work a lot of hours, and that there is a lot of pressure to excel, whether it's at school or at work, or just in life in general. I can imagine the stress is overwhelming. It's odd that many of us envy their low crime rate, clean streets, public transportation system, respect/honor, and many other things (food!!!!!), but never fully realize that there are things we don't see that we all take for granted. Thank you for sharing this video. Although I may still wish that the US was more like Japan in many ways, it's a good reminder that we need to be grateful for what we do have.

7:41 as an American born and raised in America, typically when you were looking to make new friends with someone you’ll walk up to them and maybe start small talk maybe buy them a coffee or something, like they’re strangers so you start up a conversation. Something I’ve noticed about Japanese culture is that they find it weird and creepy to start a conversation with someone you don’t know. And also compliments, compliments are very bizarre in a lot of Asian countries I’ve noticed. Giving compliments is almost like a “I’m looking down on you” type gesture. And a lot of the times instead of appreciating the compliment that somebody gave to you by saying “thank you”, you are forced to reject the compliment, or else you’ll be looked at as a narcissist and overly confident. I always found rejecting a compliment from someone to almost be like a “pick me”, I also find it very impolite to not appreciate something that somebody went out of their way to tell you to make you feel good about yourself or make you feel happy. There’s just a lot of social stigma that you don’t see really anywhere else in the world and it makes making friends and building relationships very hard and very complicated. Especially mental health because mental health is very taboo in Japan. They don’t really talk about it much but everyone goes through some type of mental health crisis at least once in their life. It’s normal, feeling emotions is normal. We’re not robots. We are people. We are humans. We are animals. But showing emotion like that in Asian countries is also very very taboo.

I'm living in Japan for five years now, and I've noticed some very interesting things. Everyone dresses more or less the same, and they all laugh in a similar way-the pitch and frequency of their laughs, the tone of their voices, and their manner of expression are all very, very similar. There are days when I can even predict what will happen based on people's daily movements and gestures. It's like when you put a finger in the path of ants; they stop and search for a new path, but you already know what will happen and where they will go. This predictability is quite remarkable in Japan. It feels like the Japanese are in a kind of mental prison, deeply rooted in traditional values that limit free expression. They're completely obsessed with fitting in and not being noticed, but at the same time, this leads to an overwhelming loneliness that they often cover up with large amounts of alcohol. Sometimes, in rare moments, you see people with a certain "light" who stand out from the rest, or you get to see them as they truly are in more private settings. In general, they are a very loving people, although it might be hard to believe. I respect them a lot, but it saddens me to be aware of these details I've mentioned.

Your country running well does not equal your country being happy. This is for every country

very interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up!

I really like how at approximately minute 13:00 Joey goes deeper than usual, talking about the basic human nature of comparing with each others especially if other people are more successful than you. I like how he's even real honest admitting that even for a quite famous KZfaqr like Joey himself still sometimes feels like other people are more successful above than him, and therefore the social comparison can makes us feel shitty. I've even experienced this myself too constantly, and to be honest, it can even be frustrating & depressing. Thank you Joey for going a lot much deeper than usual. Respect from Indonesia.

It surprises me to hear that the Netherlands is in the top. I live in the Netherlands and we have a culture here of complaining about everything. We complain about the weather, about immigration, about public transport, traffic, work etc.

as a japanese person born in japan who lived shortly in japan and moved to another country I can certify that Im still miserable

thank you joey for todays video, can´t wait for the next one

I've been living in Japan for 2 years now (leaving soon) and it's been one of the most depressing times of my life. The work life balance is awful, the base pay for most companies is awful, it's very hard to make friends despite having no issues with the language, and being around so many people who look like they're dying from burnout is mentally exhausting. Not to mention that being two faced is practically built into the culture itself... It gets to the point where some interactions don't even feel human because I can tell they're only acting a certain way due to societal pressures. It breaks my heart because living in Japan has been my dream for as long as I can remember but I sadly don't have any hope left for this country.

Blaming social media for Japanese people's unhappiness is a cop out. Look no further than an extremely weak yen, low wages, inflation, a relatively high cost of living, an incredible amount of social rules and norms, loneliness, toxic work culture, just to name a few.

There has been a japanese KZfaqr getting some traction here in the states. I was just scrolling through recommended and a video popped up that said "lonely 50 year old man eats" or something along those lines. Pretty interesting dude. Literally just sharing his life and interacting with his community

I've lived and worked in 8 different countries (including Japan) - most of what we think we know about what makes us "happy" (and about what gets published in a "happiness index") is wrong. Of course, safety and financial stability are important, but free time and social relations are WAY more relevant with regard to happiness. An immaculate country full of overworked, awkward shut-ins is NOT going to be a happy place.

I’m currently on my flight back to the states from Japan and I definitely think Japan seems sadder on the inside. Visiting Tokyo was rough a lot more people were pushy and super animated. As for areas like Osaka and Kyoto it felt as though they were much more quiet but they enjoyed little things. Some of my favorite interactions were due to effort to try to connect with them. I think it helps them to speak to foreigners. For example I was at a small pastry shop in Osaka and I called her cake “kawaii” and she called me cute right back and I left with her smiling so brightly and just slightly shocked. I also just had another interaction with a super sad kid. I ended up giving him a little sticker and both him and his mom thanked me for it. He left very very happy.

We're not so different after all.

I'm Japanese. I think the biggest problem is lack of respect for individuals. Although Japanese people care others on the surface, we don't sincerely respect each other and just be afraid of being left out. Potentially we are forced to go on the same way, and if someone goes on own way, we would dislike the person. This also includes jealous, because we have something we want to do, but we are afraid of doing it due to the above reason. So we feel constricted and unhappy and we live like NPC.

I felt this when I lived in Japan for a few months. It didn't feel that they were actually happy since they can't seem to express their true selves. Discipline and respect always comes first, or else you'll be judged and looked down on by others. It feels that being different and anything unexpected may threaten the peace or something. Everyone is too conscious of their neighbor's/family's/peer's expectations and opinions of them. Note: my pure japanese step dad and step sis found me very interesting just being my happy self. They were shocked (in a positive way) when I hugged them to greet them instead of just doing the usual polite introduction that Japanese do.

Hi Joey! super interesting video! I feel like these kinds of surveys are always to be taken with a grain of salt. Depending on how the data pool is taken it can change the result a lot so I don't know how accurate this survey can be. My hypothesis on why Japanese people rate their confidence so low, is probably because they have been taught to 謙遜する when they receive praise. I think having to be (from a western perspective) overly humble in day to day life might lead you to believe that you're actually not good at something or not beautiful enough etc. I just hope everyone can find happiness in life and that we can keep improving our countries.

I ended up doing voluntary guidance counselling at a private chartered Japanese high school in 2009 and became quite popular in this role despite somewhat limited Japanese ability. Kids were requesting my help ahead of the school’s trained psychologist so I was curious as to why I was so popular and the general answer was that to them, my world view was a window to the freedom available of the outside world and that by being non Japanese, my judgment of their problems would be more objective than a native Japanese, and that while they were still just high school kids, they felt like prisoners of being Japanese citizens without the leeway to ever become anything else and that over time that realisation was soul crushing for them. I was impressed with the depth and scope of consideration among so many Japanese young people, their baseline level of respect and courtesy for people is also higher I found, which arguably makes them more sensitive to negative happenings in the world.

I wish the Japanese government would make things better for their citizens. Having to work all day and night sounds like a nightmare.

8:03 I love when someone says chili instead of Chile, great video Joey hoping one day japanese people finds more hapiness embracing the love and hard work they put on the day by day interaction

Recently got back from our second trip to Japan. This time around, we visited Kanazawa and it was a significantly different experience. All of the people in Kanazawa looked and acted genuinely happier than other prefectures like Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo. Peoples expressions, from all group ages, seemed happier. People are nice and polite pretty much everywhere in Japan, but one thing that stood out to me in Kanazawa was that most interactions end with the patrons saying "take care" (Ki o tsukete), and seemed appreciative whenever you reciprocated it. It felt like they genuinely meant it compared to just being polite like people in other prefectures, if that makes sense. What was the main difference we saw between Kanazawa and other prefectures? The majority of shops and workplaces in the area we stayed (close to the main JR station) closed at or shortly after 5pm rather than late at night. There also weren't that many kobinis in the first place. It made sense, people working more reasonable hours means better work-life-balance, which leads to a happier life. That might not be the only reason, Kanazawa is a beautiful prefecture, but I would say it probably is a significant one.

Everything’s too expensive to realistically have children

After watching Paolo from Tokyo videos about how people actually work and live (both private small restaurants and big corporate jobs) it's no wonder people are unhappy. It's pretty much work 12 or more hours a day, get home, eat and go to bed. They have very little life outside of work. On top of that it's the mindset Joey mentioned, where they don't want to complain or standout and just quietly suffer.

Nice commentary, this reminds me of a possible Freud concept at that time about how a person's normal state is ".... not happy, but at the same time not truly bitter...".

Good points. It's important to think about how the internet and pop culture has and will continue to change us.

I think it's a double-edged sword. The collectivism is part of what gives them such a nice and peaceful society. But at the same time, I think people can feel trapped and repressed. I also wonder how much is just "the grass is always greener" and if they'd really like a society like America. I have a feeling that once the novelty wore off, they'd rather have what they have now. As with most things, it needs balance. There's got to be a way to maintain some of Japan's societal structure and norms while allowing a bit more individual freedom. Numerous times in my trip there I thought "while I appreciate this or that, I think they take it a bit too far." Like not making noise on trains or eating while walking. I understand and greatly appreciate being considerate, but there needs to be some wiggle room otherwise it'll drive you crazy with worry.

I cant help but notice similarities to the Japanese unwritten rule of being courteous to those around you, to some very extreme situations. To those suffering with depression, I survived my demons and have seen the same smiles hiding true feelings. You compound those feeling being masked with a crazy work/life balance with not much in a way to vent or seek help. That is when things can go south real fast and in some situations, permanently. Anyone who's reading this, Japanese or not. Who is needing help, talk to someone. Talk to me.

4:45 As a Brazilian, seeing my country with 81% happiness level in this survey is pure bs. We have a 44 hour workweek (start at 8 am and end at 6 pm, Monday to Friday), and some employers wants us to work to oblivion from Monday to Saturday, just to pay a minimal wage. With this salary, you can forget to have a decent house and/or a car, because every year those things are becoming more and more expensive (we pay a Scandinavian level of taxes and we recieve a Sub-Saharan Africa level of public services in return). Also, you have to live in constant fear of being stolen and/or even killed because of a cellphone for example (40k violent deaths in a year, one of the consequences of being one of the most violent countries in the world). So, if you want to have a better job here in Brazil (and a better life), you need to have a connection with a boss or someone important at a company, become a public servant or a politician (or a criminal, which is the same thing). The only happy people here are the corrupt politicians, their families and friends and public servants (those ones with $2.5K monthly salaries and higher), because these problems doesn't affect them like the rest of the people who lives here. They won't suffer any punishment if they do something wrong. That's why when we get an opportunity to leave the country, we almost always leave, because we don't have any perspective of things turning for better here.

As someone who lives in japan, I think 2 of the biggest reasons are the work life balance and the difficulty making friends. It is SOOO difficult to make deep connections here. Back home in america I have so many people I could call up, and take a walk with to talk about life and struggles and all that. Everything feels so surface level here, which is part of the culture as its all about "keeping the peace". But it really just ends up with people wasting their time because you cant tell how someone truly feels about you.

I always knew Japan is not heaven on Earth. There are people that suffer one way or the other over there. Behind all those sceneries, and food and anime, people withholding their depression like they are holding a fart

As a Dutch person, who has lived in Japan and moved back home, I really did discover a new-found appreciation for my home country. While it is by no means perfect, an importance is placed on individuality and a “you work to live” rather than a “live to work” mentality. I will always love Japan, but seeing people having to put their work first and themselves second, felt very toxic. In many cases if you try to break away from this tradition, there is a chance you get ostracized. Of course this is not the case everywhere and I think things are slowly changing, but it’s definitely not a great environment to work in.

One interesting fact here is that there's this big misconception that gender equality has a positive correlation towards overall happiness. It doesn't. At least not in the way gender equality is perceived by western society or as it leans more towards gender roles (eg. men and women working careers/jobs). Studies have shown that gender equality in this sense produces the opposite effect. The more "equal" the gender roles are in a country, the happiness index usually goes lower instead of higher. You can even notice this on the global happiness index itself, countries which has "modern" roles between genders are becoming less and less happy. And more "traditional" or conservative countries like most south east asian countries has a much higher happiness index despite the lower GDP per capita.

Excellent point sir I often tell people that there is a difference between regular society and tourist Society

Almost everyone is miserable nowadays. Moral has reached the lowest point within the past several decades.

I find it strange how mexico's pretty high in the happiness ranking when they also have an awful work culture, being one of the countries with most work hours a week and bad pay, also the crime rate, lack of clean water in some areas, etc...

not related to the video but I would love to know where Joey got all those stuff he hang on the wall. for research purpose

I talk about this CONSTANTLY with friends interested in japan and japanese culture. I am so glad you talked about it and would love to talk at length with you about it, but for now ill leave comment. I believe imo, it stems from the overall culture and mindset of the overall japanese people. As stated collectivism was the way the country became strong, a small island nation needs to stick together, but in the modern again the specific paths it took bit yall in the butt. For example, the culture of japan is very much about NOT bringing trouble to others, esp people you care about, so you dont "trouble" them with talking about your troubles and feelings. Then, pair that with having a THIRD of the licensed and practicing mental health professionals as most countries in the west, that can spell disaster for holding in those feelings. I believe that you touched on one big thing. Before their collectivism had become "just the way things are" and not really understanding things could be diff, not better or worse, just diff in general. So this did start the wheels turning and getting people thinking, "could my life be better?". Another point, the work culture. Everyone's heard the japanese work culture horror stories. Once again though this stems from respecting elders and collective mentality (good of the company over myself), which in MODERATION can be great keys to success. The problem lies when it is not married with the understanding that we all work to live. Most of us work to support ourselves, so we can eat, have a place to live, and have resources. Those resources we use to create memories and experiences for ourselves and our friends. Like taking vacations, or meeting your friends for drinks after work (a typical japanese passtime). BUT if you find you are slaving away at a job, with no time to spend the money and make those pleasurable memories, you will ultimately find your life lacking. Think the movie "Click" a bit silly but it gets the point across. All in all I think that the west can learn from some parts of the collective mindset, the planet and towns and city is for everyone so we should keep it clean, wearing a mask and being cleanly can save other people around me's life, being considerate and thoughtful of other people esp in public spaces. That being said I think japan could learn some healthy things from individualistic tendencies as well; speaking up for yourself when you feel put down in public or at work or by a friend, sharing your feelings and feeling they are valid, demanding a work schedule that allows you to live a happy balanced life. I believe we can learn from eachother and be better as awhole.

As someone that also lives in Japan and grew up here a long time ago before moving back, to me it really boils down to one aspect and it's the double edged sword of Japanese culture. It's beautifully respectful, but also disgustingly so as they've abused the idea of respect by shifting what it means to be respectful for selfish benefits. The easiest example is work hours. After COVID, it's become increasingly more noticeable that people really are wasting their time working as long as they do at the places they work. Many MANY jobs are just sitting at work, doing 4 hours worth of work, and the rest of the time just stretching that work over the course of your work hours. People do not need to work not nearly as long as they need to to get their work done or be efficient. In Japan, the expectation is unpaid overtime, to stay several hours after work hours to keep working even if you're not working. The simple existence of you at your workplace to display how hardworking you are rather than actually being. It becomes "respectful" to stay 1-2+ hours after your shift, and furthermore to interact with your colleagues or boss after the fact, continuing this angle of respectfully sucking up to them. It's a poison that seeps into every aspect of Japanese life, leaving little room for breathing or really feeling liberated in your own life. The country, if you're coming here on your own, can be ruthlessly depressing because you can very easily tell that everyone is stuck in this monotonous cycle and they can't find any way to break out. Imagine knowing no matter how hard you work, you don't have any time for your own life. Compounded by the fact that the economy is in the shitter and the city is expensive and the dreams of having a nice home is just a dream since you'll more than likely be relegated to a very small and tight studio or apartment. It's hard living in this country, even harder if you're a foreigner thanks to the severe xenophobia. You're playing on veteran difficulty if you think it's in any way reasonable to accomplish something as simple as getting a bank account or renting an apartment since your status as a foreigner automatically disqualifies you. Japan does not suck, but it's a tough country to imagine having a life in without any severe trials versus SO so many countries around the world. Great to visit, hard to live.

As finnish we never understand why we rank so high in happiness, but as we have europeans highest self exit numbers, i guess it effects it....

4:43 chotto matte...I'm from Indonesia (82%!?). we are more like grateful than happy.... but I'm halfway to happiness since my business goes well and I'm so grateful about that. I hope can visit Kyoto someday.

i can't believe the only mention to Chile was that we were even worse at making friends, and as guy who had to move and restart life twice because of a horribly toxic environment and now moved out of the country, i agree that making friends is pretty hard, you can't trust no one,

Wow, i guess i AM japanese.

You guys haven't even finished watching the video!

Anyone noticed that the article’s author is kazuma satou? 😂

about the survey part. I think a lot of people are not really honest or really conscious about how they feel when filling in a survey like that. it might be my filter but I see people all over Europe on events and it's rare to see some one really being conferrable in there own skin. and are just numbing them self out or over compensation to be able to numb out those feelings. but on the points you make on japan I think you got a point there, but keep in mind a lot of countries or cultures got there own thing that you could see as dysfunctional and is also kinda copied in collective way and is normalized to behave that way from child hood. it's by reflecting back on those things and ask why and by doing shadow work that you can let go more and more of programs that don't serve you. but yeah I do really Appreciate that you talk about this topic Joey. since it's a important one not just for japan.

Knowing Japanese people, a large percentage of them polled probably just said they weren't content because they didn't want to appear arrogant. 😛

people form the nether realm are winning

I’m Mexican and Nigerian American. Growing up I would spend summers in Mexico with my family. One of the things that surprised me the most was how happy everyone was. It shocked me because we were poor in the US but they were so poor compared to us, as we would shower with a bucket. Despite all this people seemed to have a really positive outlook and really relished taking time with their family. My uncle would get a few hours break during the day called a siesta to eat with his family and would go back to work. People also party hard lol. I lived in Japan on and off doing research there and man were the people miserable. Similarly, people didn’t have such warm relationships with their family and the expectations of work were so harsh I would wanna stay away with a 10 foot pole. I think the comparison thing is right and I saw that there and it doesn’t have to be from social media. Japanese culture seemed similar to Nigerian culture in this aspect where you are compared to say this other kid in school who is doing better than you are and you are looked down upon if not in that high ranking career or school etc.

Ashton with her channel TypeAshton recently also did an analysis on happiness. The key to happy kids appears to be chocolate sprinkles on bread every morning. 🙃 (it’s not, but it’s a nice hook into the real reason)

85% seems a bit high for us

Japan has been ruled by basically the same political party since 1955, the LDP (Jiminto) except for five years (1993-4, 2009-12) and I think this is the biggest underlying issue. Things are so slow to change, nepotism goes unpunished and the population's confidence in government is low or apathetic. That's the survey that I'd like to see.

Hey Joey, an otaku in Taiwan bravely stopped a knife attack in a subway station. When asked why, he said, "It's what the hero Himmel would have done." Maybe you'd like to cover this heroic act?

Germany is also quite low on the "make new friends" index, it's below great Britian and the US, which is not surprising for me. I'm born in Germany and I'm now 35 and still here. It is quite a struggle to find new friends or even a partner. Everyone is quite busy or already have their own group of friends. Some people are also very superficial, they will tell you they would like to meet you, but they don't really want it. So everyone stays in his own personal bubble. The elbow mentality is also a part of this. They will check you if you already have a good job, a relationship or interesting hobbies, if not and you're more the unlucky one in life, they will spare you after a while, because they don't want to spend energy to someone, who is new in their circle. The existing circle of friends and relatives is very important among Germans. So it's very hard to make any new friends here, even for a native German like me.

I live very far from Japan, and I'm very miserable, because I'm very lonely and insecure. The problem is that no one seems to have a practical solution for people like me

My country (The Netherlands) at the top is the biggest shocker. Maybe like the national polls they only ask in the 4 big cities, but everyone i know, me included isn't that happy. Many of my friends and me included suffer from chronic depression and have attempted suicide and my friend group isn't an exception. Suicide is the main reason for death for us for people below 40. Our workhours are short, compared to countries like Asia. But the pressure in work is usually very high, we show little empathy to others and expect to be helped right away, which creates massive pressure. We are also expected to do alot next to work, if you don't make alot of money, are athletic and have a big social circle you'll be an outcast and seen as a bit sad. We also have massive crisises in the country. Our goverment stopped the economy in some ways to save the climate, creating discomfort, money issues and most off all a massive housing crises. We have the same housing crises we had right after ww2, and we aren't allowed to build houses because it would pollute the envirement. We also close farms so our food gets more and more expensive. Meanwhile mass immigration is ongoing, but when people arrive here we don't help them so they turn to crime. I'd agree with the 90% in 1995, now my country is falling apart, has veen since 2015

I remove his main channel from my recommendations and yet he still finds ways to creep into my feed

the grass is greener on the other side. mentality is always a factor on social media, even on news. would you be happy always reading positive news? while some do, others would quickly compare themselves to such people and start to feel bad, thus news are always a mixture of the good, the bad, and also some weird situations that happened around the world. whether one can stand above that, or not, is up to the individual and their direct environment.

Surveys like that can be finicky and get different results, a survey I saw recently showed Japan to have a similar rating to France and showed the Scandinavian countries to be the happiest. I think the issue lies in language and also what the population itself perceives as happiness. Different words can have different meanings in different languages and there can also be multiple different words for the same idea that could get different results even if they are similar. Just using English as an example, in a survey you could ask 'are you happy with your life?' or ''Are you happy'' and you would get different results but also you could ask ''are you happy'' or ''are you content'' and you would again get different results even though in all cases the question is very similar. Now imagine doing that across numerous different languages. To some it up, the issue with surveys like this is that they are subjective and not objective.

I think a lot of it comes down to work/life and school/life balance. I've worked a few jobs that demanded a lot of unpaid overtime or just excessive amounts of overtime and not only does it leave less free time for you after work, it drains you to the point you can't really utilize the free time for leisure, you need most of it just to rest and recharge. When you can see your life ticking away day by day like this you begin to fear you may never actually get to LIVE it. At that point you have no dream or goal to work toward, you're exhausted and the only thing holding it all together is survival instinct because you know you need food and shelter. If kids are spending all their time after school doing more school so they can get into the best post-secondary schools so they can prove themselves by studying the hardest to keep up with the fierce competition in those schools, when do they have time to make friends or enjoy the world? It's just like the work culture of proving yourself by sacrificing the most extra time, the only currency you can never earn back.

I wonder how high my country Belgium stands on this index because it ain't gonna be high.

I’m an African-American male and I don’t really do social media

The biggest key to creating happiness in a society/culture is the answer to one single question. "To what degree does this society/culture enable a person to do/pursue a job/interest they love/care about, while receiving respect and appreciation for what they do, and while having sufficient resources/salary/compensation/etc. that they don't need to worry about basic necessities like rent/food/clothing/etc." Whenever any of these things break down, it doesn't matter how nice/orderly the society/culture seems, the happiness of the people within it will go down. If someone is unable to pursue a career or interest that they love, and is forced to work a job that they hate, happiness will go down. If people aren't respected/appreciated for what they do, and are surrounded by people who look down on them, happiness will go down. If people are constantly stressed and worrying about bills, and how they're even going to make it/survive, happiness will go down. If you can fulfill all three of those basic criteria, however, most people will be satisfactorily happy, even if other aspects of their life are unfulfilled at the moment. Maybe they're single, and they feel lonely, but if those three basic things are fulfilled for them, they'll usually take the perspective of "My life is otherwise pretty good, and I can work on finding someone". Maybe they're not rich and have always wanted to be, but so long as those three basic things are fulfilled, they'll usually take the perspective of "I might not have all the luxuries I've dreamed of, but I'm living a pretty good life, a life I can be satisfied with, and I can work on my ideas to strike it big on the side". But the moment a society/culture begins to take away those three basic things, the more all those other unfulfilled desires are brought into stark relief for them as well, and they all seem to stack up and build on top of each other until it cascades into unhappiness. And then that unhappiness becomes even more likely to go unaddressed if it exists in a culture where not inconveniencing others (say by sharing your problems with them) is the standard of social politeness.

Thank you Joey, fascinating video!

To give some context, economic power is often measured by the GDP and has to be seen critical, but it shows for sure some economic capacities a country has or developed. I am currently living in Japan in a Student Exchange Programm, I am german and the work culture and some other rules as well as the konservative goverment, style of life (for the most part consumerism) lined up with my perspective on life. To give some context, I study Japanology and Sociology, I see a variety of problems both countries face and also I can see some parallels to my homecountry as well. A big difference is here the work culture, overall culturally there are other major differences but from the perspective of feeling happy. While I can go shopping in Japan on Sundays, when I am in germany my homecountry I am forced to stop and slow down my pace of living. We only work our select time most of the week days, and have in most jobs saturdays and fridays free. Shops close on Sundays, which can be annoying but you learn to plan around it and deal with not beeing able to be so spontaneous. Not sure, couldnt see from the rankings, but I am pretty sure german ranked higher in happiness and if you go by GDP we also lead as third strongest economy in the world. I think there is an connection between "work culture - economy - happiness" but there is also the fact that the contribution of that created wealth plays a big role. In very capitalistic countries, the people who have the most money, stay beeing wealthy because systems like Japan have such high cost for higher education compared to germany for example. The ability to not step outside of there social/ social-economic group can create the feeling that the goverment in fact only care about the people who want to keep them in power. Making decisions in favor of the common people a rarity. At last, an interesting book had been released from a japanese sociologist about the Bushido and how it still influences the work culture of japan, and that this should be changed. I was very amazed when I heard this book existed, because I had the same thought before hearing about this book. It stays the question if Japan is change anytime soon with it konservative goverment, which seems to see their biggest task at hand to stay in power, considering the long history of Japan probably understandable. It feels like Edo Jidai 2.0 with the inclusion of more western influences and foreign policies. So, finally to the point about the children, comparrison hyposis. It is infact also something I expierenced in my social environment here in Japan, I am talking about young adults here, they seem unconciously compare each other a lot, whitout vocalising it. I feel something about the way of communication and expiereces of comparision (school rankings also exists more dominantly presented in Japan), people rather play thereselves down. As soon they start seeing something that puts them in an inferior position in comparision, they start picking up more on things that they are better that or change the topic. It seems they want to protect themselves or rather their ego from competition, because thats how it feels like to them. That also would explain why critisism is hardly seen displayed openly and in confrontation, communication is not as direct, a big differences to germany as well. I have to add, I am on average between 3-7 years older, so that might create a bias. This is just my personal feeling and expierecing and I hope people wont feel hurt, but it seems to me that what ever is out there causing that, peoples people feel on average more narcisstic too me than other people from other nations that I so far met in Germany or Japan. To fully understand this problem I dont want to play my full theory, firstly it needs to be looked into Narcissism as a whole and when tendencies become unhealthy.

I think that chart comes down to with how honest people with their answers

Keep up the awesome work and videos Joey love the video

As Someone who has multiple Japanese friends and one of my ex's being Japanese, the thing they usually say whenever we talk about it is that Japan, even being one of the world's best countries, still has pretty bad societal and cultural issues rooted in it. Let's say we even forget the xenophobia for a second, the problems are still kinda bad, like the old people have too much say or power in any issues or just culture.

I think SNS is "a" reason. People are sooo glued to their phones here it's crazy so they are way more constantly bombarded by this comparison. In combination with the overall emphasis of showing your status here (showing the brands you wear etc) since you otherwise should not stick out too much on a personal/character level might be boosting it. I think in europe or at least in germany we usually do not care about that status showing and care more about what you can achieve yourself and together and how you are as a person.

Being here on vacation for the last week it does show if you look close enough.

At least there are KZfaqrs fixing the problem by making blanket statements that all Japanese are unhappy

I already work 16 hrs a day in Australia as a trucker. been doing it for 25 years, and my last day off was in 2013... Maybe I should move to Japan for a working holiday 12hours a day or less at work would be amazing.. I'm single and no real friend group - because I've worked so much and also I've never married, and have no kids... So yea I'm still pretty happy with my life regardless of all that. It's really about mindset. I socialise on MMO's, i watch a shitload of anime (it's what you do when sleeping in a truck 5/6 nights a week... But if I was over there with all their incredible places to see and traditions and festivals and culture, then I'd be so content with my life.

I've just bought a home in Japan and have recently met my neighbours who were so welcoming when I moved to the community. I have found the Japanese people I've met are kind and very respectful. I'd love it if Australian's would be more like this TBH. However, I could see that the suicide rate is quite high. It's so sad to think that people are not happy due to their rigid culture norms. I hope things change...view points change over time, because they really have so much to celebrate in comparison to the rest of the world.

You're so right Joey, as the Founding Fathers said it's the Pursuit of Happiness and we each find it in our own way. On a visit to Mt Fuji I saw a lot of older Japanese sat at easels paining the view of Mt Fuji with every degree or lack of artistic skill, however compare their lives to those thousands and thousands crowding onto the Tokyo Metro for work each morning. If you have sometime you want to do, go for it, even if it doesn't work out better to say I Tried than to say IF ONLY...

I really enjoy when you make these types of videos Joey, although this is a complex topic, you bring a very unique perspective. You said it yourself you've seen both sides of the coin! Thanks for sharing your opinion.

I feel that many people are looking at Japan through very specific lenses and rose tinted glasses. Many of them focus only on the cool stuff - the sushi conveyor belt restaurants, tourist destinations, pokemon center and other shops, etc - instead of the country at large.

It’s also been revealed a lot of the happiness surveys are kind of skewed b/c Northern European societies have this “be happy with what you have” culture, so that’s automatically going to inflate their numbers.

I remember visiting Japan and telling my hosts we get four weeks of holidays every year in Australia. Their eyes almost popped out of their heads at this information. They just found it unbelievable to have so many holidays and time to relax. I really like Japan and like visiting, but honestly I would not like to live there and have a normal job. Being a KZfaqr would be awesome fun, but not an office worker grinding away 12 hours a day.

Man ngl I very much struggle to take that children in Chile are having a harder time to make friends than children in Japan Besides that, shit do be rough for the young ones 😔 One can only hope shit will improve for future generations but man its looking bleak

Living in Mexico for 3 years. Main reason people are happy is because of the focus on family and on community

I think the idea of collectivism being part of the issue is interesting but the Scandinavian countries are also really collectivist (at least by European standards) and normally do very well on these sorts of lists. Personally I’d put s lot of the blame on something like “lack of hope for the future”. It’s not really surprising to the countries like South Korea and Italy that are also facing demographic collapse also be feeling miserable based on this. Who is going to be happy when they know that the burdens placed upon them are only going to get heavier?

From what I heard is that most people in Japan work most of the time and barely have days off and the education system there is really strict on students. Plus they look down on people who got no good education background. Can someone tell me if this is true or not?

Things about Japanese work culture that doesn't get talked about enough: ageism and the difficulty in finding a new job after quitting one. Truthfully, if you're over the age of 30-35 and you quit your job, you're unlikely to find another job with equal or greater pay unless you are a highly skilled and sought after individual. What this means is that if you are in your 30s and you hate your job, you are forced to stay (despite workplace bullying, power harassment, or just discovering your true passion). If you are a woman, it's even more difficult as many employers assume you will quit around your 30s to start a family, or you have family obligations (sick kids, picking up from school, etc) and employers will be reluctant to hire you.

I went to japan 3 times, tokyo being 2 times. The first time I went, I get the standard culture shock and how everyone was so kind, place is clean, service is godlike... everything was amazing. The second time I went, I started to realize how much shadow looms over the people, a contrast from the brightness I experience during my first visit. People here are always looking at their phones, looking down, walking fast and rushing to work. The smiles from service workers felt robotic, the greetings felt very npc scripted, just alot of sad feelings. But of course not everyone or every place is like that

I think the problem is connection. People are not as connected to each other the way they ised to be.

I think Shogo (Let's Ask Shogo | Your Japanese friend in Kyoto) does a great job of explaining this in his video "Why Bushido is the Root of All Social Problems in Japan"