Japanese people are known to have one of the shortest sleep durations globally, with low satisfaction levels regarding sleep quality. This suggests underlying sleep-related issues and the need for effective solutions. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has released the 2023 edition of "Sleep Guidelines for Health Promotion" to disseminate knowledge and improve sleep quality. Dr. Buysse from the University of Pittsburgh proposed the concept of Sleep Health, evaluating sleep through multiple dimensions such as satisfaction, daytime alertness, timing (e.g., wake-up time and time to bed), sleep efficiency, and duration, garnering significant attention. The ERATO Ueda Biological Timing Project introduced the concept of "sleep check-ups," using sleep as a health assessment metric to promote well-being. Our team has developed the ACCEL algorithm for sleep-wake classification using wearable devices and reported examples of sleep-wake clustering using large-scale dataset (~ people are known to have one of the shortest sleep durations globally, with low satisfaction levels regarding sleep quality. This suggests underlying sleep-related issues and the need for effective solutions. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has released the 2023 edition of "Sleep Guidelines for Health Promotion" to disseminate knowledge and improve sleep quality. Dr. Buysse from the University of Pittsburgh proposed the concept of Sleep Health, evaluating sleep through multiple dimensions such as satisfaction, daytime alertness, timing (e.g., wake-up time and time to bed), sleep efficiency, and duration, garnering significant attention. The ERATO Ueda Biological Timing Project introduced the concept of "sleep check-ups," using sleep as a health assessment metric to promote well-being. Our team has developed the ACCEL algorithm for sleep-wake classification using wearable devices and reported examples of sleep-wake clustering using large-scale dataset (～100,000 participants). Since 2022, the "Children’s Sleep Check-up" project has aimed to assess the sleep patterns of Japanese children. Looking ahead, the project envisions institutionalizing sleep check-ups as a foundation for a health maintenance system based on sleep monitoring.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between subjective happiness and health, restorative sleep, social connectedness (having someone to talk to and sense of trust), and lifestyle factors (exercise habits, dietary balance, frequency of laughter, purpose in life, and stress), and to propose sleep-promoting behaviors that enhance subjective happiness and health. Data from 2,001 residents of city B were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Results showed that subjective happiness in both adults and older adults was associated with having someone to talk to, frequency of laughter, purpose in life, restorative sleep, and being stress-free. Subjective health was associated with restorative sleep, purpose in life, and being stress-free in both age groups. These findings suggest that getting enough rest through sleep and living a purposeful life are important for both adults and older adults to be happy and healthy. To promote well-being, specific sleep behaviors were recommended for bot

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To consider the relationship between suicide prevention and sleep, it is necessary to understand the suicide risk progression. Various facilitating and protective factors are involved in the process of severe stress leading to depression and then to suicidal ideation. Knowledge of risk factors in addition to facilitators can help narrow the target population for suicide prevention. Among the general population, the prevalence rate of suicidal ideation in the last year is as high as 11% among those who do not get enough rest from sleep, and focusing on this population would cover 32% of those with suicidal ideation. However, sleep insufficiency is not a precipitating factor in the development of severe stress into suicidal ideation, but is more likely to form part of a depressive state that falls somewhere between stress and suicidal ideation. If suicide prevention gatekeepers can approach persons with sleep insufficiency, knowing that sleep insufficiency has many causes, and connect them to effective support, they will be effective for both suicide prevention and sleep health.

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Traffic noise, due to its high intensity, is a significant and ubiquitous source of environmental sound that can disrupt sleep, particularly for those living near major roads, railways, or under flight paths. There has been longstanding research on how traffic noise affects sleep, but interest has intensified, especially in Europe, following the 2002 Environmental Noise Directive and the 2009 WHO Night Noise Guidelines. This paper aims to provide an overview of the scientific findings related to traffic noise and sleep disturbances both domestically and internationally, and to outline potential areas for future research. Initially, the paper explores how sleep disturbances from traffic noise are currently assessed. It then discusses case studies that examine the direct relationship between the intensity of a noise event and resultant arousal. Furthermore, it reviews studies on average nighttime noise levels and reported sleep disturbances that form the basis of existing environmental noise policies, while als

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This study aimed to verify the validity of sleep measurement using the MOTHER Bracelet®, a commercially available activity tracker that does not require recharging, by comparing its performance with that of standard research-use actigraphy (wGT3X-BT). Over the course of seven consecutive nights, six healthy participants (five males and one female) wore both devices simultaneously to collect sleep data. Total Sleep Time (TST), Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO), Sleep Efficiency (SE), and sleep/wake determination for each epoch were analyzed. According to the Bland-Altman analysis, the MOTHER Bracelet® tended to overestimate TST by 18.29 minutes, underestimate WASO by 34.45 minutes, and overestimate SE by 4.33% when compared to the wGT3X-BT. Additionally, the MOTHER Bracelet® showed high sensitivity (94.4%) and low specificity (21.2%), with an accuracy of 85.9% using the wGT3X-BT as the ground truth. Furthermore, TST showed a significantly high correlation between the two devices (r=0.8483; P<0.01). While the results were partially consistent with the wGT3X-BT, the MOTHER Bracelet® shows considerable promise as a convenient tool for assessing habitual sleep. Future studies comparing its performance with polysomnography may further confirm its effectiveness as a sleep measurement tool.

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