Laughter is no joke in a region of Japan. Citizens are required by law to giggle at least once a day to protect their health.
The regulation, passed last Friday in the northern prefecture of Yamagata, is based on research from the local university that found that regular laughter can reduce the risk of heart disease and help you live longer.
The law not only requires individuals to laugh every day, but also requires companies to “create a work environment that encourages laughter,” and designates the eighth day of every month as “laughter day.”
It was proposed and passed by members of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. But opposition ministers slammed the law, saying it infringed on the “fundamental human right” to keep a straight face.
Research from Yamagata University found that people who laughed at least once a week were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who laughed less than once a month.
Opposition ministers argued that forcing people to smile at least once a day could violate their “fundamental human right” to keep a serious face.
Toru Seki, of the rival Japanese Communist Party, said: “To laugh or not to laugh is one of the fundamental human rights guaranteed in the Constitution with regard to freedom of thought and belief, but also inner freedom.”
Others argued that it discriminates against people who cannot laugh because of a disability. Satoru Ishiguro, of the coalition Prefectural Politics Club, said: “The human rights of people who have difficulty laughing due to illness or other reasons should not be undermined.”
Constitutional expert Shigeru Minamino of Kyushu University called on politicians to stop acting “ridiculously.”
“It’s none of your business,” he raged. “I believe it is good to laugh at least once a day, but that depends on my personal opinion and values. It is not something that should be prescribed or recommended by a prefectural assembly.”
A study on laughter from Yamagata University, published in the Journal of Epidemiology in 2019, found that people who laughed at least once a week had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who laughed less than once a month.
Researchers studied 17,152 people aged 40 or younger. Participants completed a questionnaire that tracked how often they laughed and their health was monitored over several years.
The researchers noted, “We defined ‘laughing out loud’ as laughter; thus, silent laughter and smiling were not counted as laughter.”
They concluded: ‘Our findings suggest that increasing the frequency of laughter may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and extend lifespan.’
August 8 has been declared “Laughter Day” in Hokkaido Prefecture because 8/8 sounds like “haha” in Japanese.