Being happy is a relative term here in Japan. I think most Japanese think they are ?happy? or at least feel good about their individual situation. However people are people and you can?t look at Japanese through Western eyes it just not the same here. In Japan you have to look at thing through Japanese eyes, which is very hard to do most of the time. For example Japanese are not taught to dwell on bad things so they don?t, its pretty simple for them. As a Western guy I have a hard time with this concept and don?t really understand it very well myself. However I do live in Japan and am trying to understand the culture and adapt to it is difficult. Trying to define happiness is very difficult in this culture and well as others, but I do think Japanese are happy for the most part. Does that make sense? For me just cleaning the bike trail makes me happy in my own way or picking up garage off the street. Its hard to define happiness isn?t?