Laughter is no joke in one region of Japan, where citizens have been ordered by law to giggle at least once a day for the sake of their health.
The ordinance, passed last Friday in the northern prefecture of Yamagata, was inspired by research from the local university which found regular laughter can reduce your risk of heart disease and help you live longer.
As well as requiring individuals to have a daily chuckle, the law also demands that businesses to ‘develop a workplace environment filled with laughter’, and designates the eighth of every month a ‘day of laughter’.
It was proposed and passed by members of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. But opposition ministers hit out at the law, saying it breaches the ‘fundamental human right’ to remain straight-faced.
Yamagata University found those who laughed at least once a week were less likely to develop cardiovascular problems than those who did so less than once a month
Opposition ministers argued that requiring people to laugh at least once a day may breach their ‘fundamental human right’ to remain straight-faced
Toru Seki, of the rival Japan Communist Party, said: ‘To laugh or not to laugh is one of the fundamental human rights guaranteed by the constitution regarding freedom of thought and creed as well as an inner freedom.’
Others argued that it discriminates against those who cannot laugh due to disabilities. Satoru Ishiguro, of the coalition Prefectural Politics Club, said: ‘The human rights of those who have difficulties laughing due to illness or other reasons must not be undermined.’
Constitutional expert Shigeru Minamino, of Kyushu University, urged politicians to stop being ‘ridiculous’.
‘It’s none of your business,’ he raged. ‘I believe it is good to laugh at least once a day but that’s down to my personal opinions and values. It’s not something to be ordered or recommended by a prefectural assembly.’
The laughter study from Yamagata University, published in the Journal of Epidemiology in 2019, found those who laughed at least once a week were less likely to develop cardiovascular problems than those who did so less than once a month.
Researchers studied 17,152 people aged 40 or younger. The participants filled in a questionnaire recording how often they laughed and their health was tracked over several years.
The researchers noted: ‘We defined “laugh out loud” as laughter; accordingly, silent laughing and smiling were not counted as laughter.’
They concluded: ‘Our findings suggest that increasing the frequency of laughter might reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and increase longevity.’
August 8 has been designated as a ‘day of laughter’ in the prefecture of Hokkaido, because 8/8 in Japanese sounds like ‘haha’.
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