Even though the economy is mired in recession, a strong majority of Japanese business people describe themselves as "happy" according to a new survey from Nielsen Japan in collaboration with Aera Style Magazine.  In an online survey of 1,000 men, aged 25 to 49, 71 percent said they were happy.  Of those who said they felt "needed in their company," 76 percent were happy, while only 48 percent of those who did not feel needed at work were similarly joyful.

Job security did not, somewhat surprisingly, affect an individual's happiness as much as expected: of the almost 36 percent who said they felt anxiety about the possibility of being laid off, 61 percent still described themselves as "happy," while 76 percent of those who felt stable in their jobs were happy.  Business people also took some degree of satisfaction from working overtime, as those working between 70 and 99 hours of OT a month showed the greatest happiness, while those who worked no overtime were the least happy.  Finally, drinking with one's colleagues also appears to boost happiness.  Respondents who drank with a superior, associates and subordinates several times a month were the happiest, while those who never socialized with one's officemates were the least happy.

The Happiness Survey was designed to better understand what factors contribute to the business person's sense of happiness in and was published in the April 3, 2009 edition of Aera Style Magazine, which was launched last November as a male fashion supplement to AERA, a weekly news magazine.

Japanese readers can view the entire article in the current issue of Aera Style magazine.