在大多数国家，工作时间睡觉不仅会让人不满，而且有可能让你被炒鱿鱼。
In most countries, sleeping on the job isn't just frowned upon, it may get you fired.
但在日本，在办公室打盹很常见，而且得到文化上的认可。事实上，它常被微妙的看作勤奋的象征：你肯定是工作得太累了。
But in Japan, napping in the office is common and culturally accepted. And in fact, it is often seen as a subtle sign of diligence: You must be working yourself to exhaustion.
日语中称呼这种行为的词汇是"inemuri"。它通常被翻译为"工作时间睡觉"，但剑桥大学唐宁学院日本研究的高级讲师布里吉特·斯泰格博士称，将它译作"在场睡觉"会更准确。
The word for it is "inemuri". It is often translated as "sleeping on duty", but Dr Brigitte Steger, a senior lecturer in Japanese studies at Downing College, Cambridge, who has written a book on the topic, says it would be more accurate to render it as "sleeping while present".
她表示，这种翻译表达出日本人对待时间的方式。在日本，人们认为同时做多件事是有可能的，尽管专注度会降低。
That, she said, captures Japan's approach to time, where it's seen as possible to do multiple things simultaneously, if at a lower intensity.
所以你能够一边参加枯燥的季度销售会议，一边幻想海滩度假。
So you can get credit for attending that boring quarterly sales meeting while also dreaming of a beach vacation.
斯泰格表示，Inemuri在高级白领中最为普遍。初级职员往往想整天保持清醒，希望被看作充满活力，而生产线上的工人根本没法打盹。
Inemuri is most prevalent among more senior employees in white-collar professions, Dr Steger said. Junior employees tend to want to stay awake all day and be seen as energetic, and workers on assembly lines can't just nod off.
斯泰格还提到，两种性别的人都喜欢inemuri，但女性更有可能因之受到指责，尤其是在一个"小睡会被视为不得体"的职位上。
Both sexes indulge in inemuri, but women are more likely to be criticised for it, especially if they sleep in a position that is considered unbecoming, Dr Steger said.
inemuri在日本已经存在了至少1000年，并且不限于工作场合。人们会在百货公司、咖啡馆、餐馆，乃至热闹的人行道上温暖舒适的地方小睡片刻。
Inemuri has been practised in Japan for at least 1,000 years, and it is not restricted to the workplace. People may nap in department stores, cafes, restaurants or even a snug spot on a busy city sidewalk.
"你在车上睡觉时，不太可能出现打劫的情况，"哈佛大学社会人类学教授西奥多·C·贝斯特博士说道。
"It's very unlikely, if you are sleeping on a train, that someone would try to rob you," said Dr Theodore C Bestor, a professor of social anthropology at Harvard University.