India is the happiest nation in the world. So why is Japan near the bottom?

India leads the global happiness rankings, while Japan struggles with inflation, pension insecurity, and growing despair among youth and the elderly

India is riding high on happiness, but across the East China Sea, Japan is sinking into a national gloom.

 

A global survey has found that India is the world’s happiest country, with 88 per cent of people saying they feel either very or rather happy. Japan, by contrast, is near the bottom of the list, ranking 27th out of 30 countries. Only 12 per cent of Japanese respondents say they’re very happy.

 

And it gets worse from there.

 

Just 13 per cent of Japanese people say they’re satisfied with their current quality of life. That’s the lowest score of any country in the survey. Even Hungary, second-worst on the list, scored noticeably better at 22 per cent. Meanwhile, India? A solid 74 per cent say they’re content with their lives right now.

 

 

The global poll, conducted by French research firm Ipsos, surveyed nearly 24,000 people across 30 countries. While optimism and happiness are on the rise in many developing nations, including Colombia and Indonesia, Japan is battling a deepening emotional and social recession.

 

‘We have only known deflation, now prices are soaring’

 

Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at Temple University’s Tokyo campus, says many Japanese people are feeling defeated.

 

“There are different reasons for different people, of course, but one of the biggest factors I feel is that for so long we have only experienced deflation and now suddenly we have soaring inflation,” she told This Week in Asia.

 

After decades of near-zero inflation, Japan is now facing a cost-of-living crisis. Forecasts suggest inflation could hit 12.2 per cent over the course of 2025. But unlike in some countries, wages haven’t caught up, leaving many Japanese families, especially seniors on fixed pensions, feeling the squeeze.

 

“It is very hard for older people because they cannot afford everything they used to be able to buy with their pensions,” Murakami said.

 

“Japan is still the third-largest economy in the world, but the outlook at home and abroad is not very bright at the moment,” she added.

 

Young, smart, and already hopeless

 

What’s even more alarming? The despair isn’t limited to older generations. Young Japanese are sounding just as jaded, before even stepping into full-time adulthood.

 

“I just had a class and a girl who was maybe 19 years old said she was doomed,” Murakami recalled. “She said that the only thing she was going to do would be to get a job, work long hours so she could pay into the pension system… and that there was nothing to look forward to.”

 

“She was worried about taxes and about the pension system collapsing because there are not enough young working people. That’s very sad because these are the very people who should be so full of hope at this stage in their lives,” Murakami said.

 

Political apathy runs deep

 

A big part of the problem, Murakami said, is a political system that feels out of touch. Many young Japanese don’t see any real change coming from their leaders and that fuels even more disengagement.

 

“In many ways, young people seem overwhelmed,” she said.

 

The survey also backs this up. Japanese respondents reported low satisfaction across the board — from work, health, and social lives to spirituality, romance, and mental health. The few things people were happy about? Friendships, housing, and short-term finances. That’s about it.

 

Still, when asked what truly makes them happy, most pointed to “family and children,” followed closely by “feeling appreciated or loved.”

 

‘A country built for unhappiness’

 

The findings have triggered a firestorm online. On Japanese news sites, the comments section reads like a therapy group for the quietly miserable.

 

“Even if you save money, you can’t buy a house in Tokyo, and you can’t live on your pension alone in old age. Plus, there’s a high suicide rate. Japan is a country made for people to be unhappy,” one person wrote on Yahoo News, according to the South China Morning Post.

 

Another commenter added: “I’m in my late 30s and single. I don’t have a family and I only worry about my retirement and the future. I don’t enjoy life… Even though I have several times the annual income and assets of my peers, I’m not satisfied at all. There’s no doubt that it’s the government’s negligence that has made this country.”

 

Despite the gloom, Murakami offered a sharp reality check.

 

“Most of these people should be more content with what they already have,” she said. “They are not living in Ukraine or Haiti. I am sure they have a home to go to, food to eat and that they can find joy if they want to,” Murakami said.

 

“For me, these people just do not appreciate what they have,” she added.