A young office worker soaks up the hot summer sun in Tokyo in an undated file photo. Japan's corporate warriors aren't getting enough sleep -- and it's costing the country billions. In the country that gave the world the word "karoshi," or death from overwork, drowsy employees turning up late, taking days off or struggling to stay awake on the job are causing economic losses of some $30 billion a year, according to a survey. "The idea is to raise awareness of the problem," said Makoto Uchiyama, professor and chairman of the department of neuropsychiatry at Nihon University School of Medicine, who conducted the survey. "Not everyone who is sleepy at work is lazy. It's hard to tell your boss that you are sleepy, but ignoring the problem can lead to losses in the long run." Japanese routinely work long hours, as much from cultural constraints on leaving before colleagues as from volume of work. Suited salarymen napping, often standing up, are a common sight on crowded commuter trains. The survey questioned some 3,075 workers at a chemical company on their sleeping and working habits. Some 37 percent of respondents said they had problems sleeping. They said their efficiency at work was reduced by about 40 percent and reported a high frequency of accidents, lateness and absenteeism. Uchiyama said other countries may be in a similar situation. "It may be thought that this is a Japanese problem. But it's not, it's global."    (Agencies)

日本的公司職員睡眠不足，這給日本造成了上十億的經濟損失。 “過勞死”一詞來源于日本，即工作過度引起的死亡。據調查，昏昏欲睡的員工上班遲到、請假或工作時強打精神，給日本造成的經濟損失達到一年約300億美元。 日本醫科大學神經精神醫學院的主任真由中山教授做了此項調查，他說：“做這個調查的目的就是為了增強人們對這個問題的意識。” “并不是每個上班犯困的人都是懶散的。跟老板說你想睡覺有點開不了口，但是，忽視這個問題會造成長期損失。” 日本人的日常工作時間很長，這和不倡導先于同事下班的文化約束以及工作量大有關。西裝革履的上班族在擁擠的上下班列車上站著睡覺在日本十分常見。 調查圍繞睡眠和工作習慣對一家化學制品公司的約3075名工人進行了訪問。 約37％的調查對象說，他們存在睡眠問題。他們說，他們的工作效率下降了40％，而且意外事故、遲到和礦工的發生頻率也很高。 中山教授說，其他國家可能也存在類似的問題。 “也許大家認為這只是日本的問題。其實不是，這是個全世界的問題。” (英語點津姍姍編輯)