Manzenreiter, Wolfram
2016 "Das Glück auf dem Land: Wohlbefinden in Kumamoto im Stadt-Land-Vergleich", David Chiavacci und Iris Wieczorek (Hg.): Japan 2016. Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. München: Iudicium, 205-306.

Abstract:

The World Happiness Report 2015 claims that "happiness levels are higher in rural communities than in large cities". However, an analysis of 81 country data from the World Value Survey provided no evidence on the assumed differences in subjective well-being between urban and rural sites of residence.

This article attempts to address the urban-rural gradient of the happiness problem by looking at assumed differences of happiness levels in urban and rural areas of Kumamoto Prefecture.

Secondary analysis of the aggregated data of four annual rounds of the Kumamoto Happiness Survey (2012–2015, n=5,340) will demonstrate to what regard levels of happiness are different among urban and rural residents of Kumamoto Prefecture, what rural happiness actually is characterized by in comparison to urban happiness, and in what regard the Aso region differs in terms of happiness levels from other rural areas within the prefecture.