In most countries, sleeping on the job isn't just frowned upon, it may get you fired.

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。

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 exhaustion¹.

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。

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".

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。

That, she said, captures Japan's approach to time, where it's seen as possible to do multiple things simultaneously², if at a lower intensity³.

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。

So you can get credit for attending that boring quarterly sales meeting while also dreaming of a beach vacation.

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。

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。

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.

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。

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 snug⁴ spot on a busy city sidewalk.

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。

"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 anthropology⁵ at Harvard University.

"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。