There is a story that a nun who wrote enjoyable things in her diary lived nearly 10 years longer than a negative nun. Humans are not happy because they are healthy, but it seems that there is also an aspect of being healthy because they are happy because they are having fun. It seems that this enjoyment and happiness do not have a fixed form or pattern. Some people find enjoyment in the leisure time they have after quitting their jobs, rather than the enjoyment they can experience by continuing to work. It is better to have money, but some people say that there are also enjoyments that should be valued more than that. It seems that not only sweetness has a good taste, but the bitterness and astringency of coffee also contribute to the enjoyment and richness of the taste. In order to enjoy this enjoyment well, it seems that you need to be intentional and planned.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, interactions with others decreased and social loneliness became a problem. This problem was not just about having fewer people to communicate with. It has been revealed that social loneliness reduces the amount of oxytocin secreted from the hypothalamus in the brain. It has become clear that this not only causes mental disadvantages, but also physical disadvantages. It has also become clear that enriching social connections is important in preventing dyslipidemia, which causes arteriosclerosis. If we know the disadvantages, we can turn them into advantages. The government has also begun to formulate indicators for overall happiness and satisfaction. The government is beginning to instruct people to gain scientific knowledge about healthy mental and physical conditions.
Well-being has received more attention in the past decade, but awareness of it in Japan is still low. The government has also begun to show a serious attitude toward taking measures on this issue. It seems that industry, academia, and government are working together, including the activities of each ministry, to promote the trend toward well-being. One manifestation of this is the growing movement to study “happiness” at universities. The industrial sector and other sectors have begun to move to improve well-being, and universities are responding to that request. The government, private companies, and local governments are all starting to move in order to train city-building professionals who will make people happy. However, if we think about this seriously, it seems that it is too late to start learning about this after entering university. We come to the conclusion that this should be expanded to earlier stages, such as elementary school, junior high school, and high school. It seems necessary to create an environment that students can experience the importance of living a happy life from elementary school onwards.
