TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese women are cheerier than men, people grow glummer as they age, and money can buy happiness -- up to a point.

Those were among the findings of a recent survey on what makes Japanese people happy, the researcher, Osaka University professor Yoshiro Tsutsui, said Friday.

A majority were pretty satisfied with their lot in life -- only 13 percent of the 4,224 respondents gave themselves a "happiness rating" of four or lower on a scale of zero to 10.

Men tended to be a bit less happy than women, perhaps because Japan's male-dominated society means they have bigger social responsibilities, Tsutsui said in a report on the survey.

Happiness rose along with per capita income until earners reached the highest bracket, at which point it dipped somewhat.

"It seems when people are satisfied with their income, other factors then matter more," Tsutsui told Reuters.

　　中文：

　　日本大阪大学的教授Yoshiro Tsutsui就“什么使日本人感到快乐”这一问题做了一项调查。该调查显示，随着年龄的增长，人们变得越来越忧郁，而金钱从某种程度上来讲可以买来快乐。此外，日本妇女比日本男人更快乐。

　　调查显示，大多数日本妇女对她们的生活非常满意，只有13%的妇女将自己的快乐度评为4分（总分为10分）。 与女人相比，男人的快乐度就要稍低了。Tsutsui教授说，这可能是因为日本是一个男权统治的社会，男人承担着更多的社会责任。

　　调查表明，人们的快乐度是随着人均收入的增加而提高的，直至达到一个最高点后稍有回落。只有当人们对其收入满意之后，才会关注其他的因素对快乐的影响。