The influence of social capital on happiness is attracting attention around the world. Many studies that investigated the relationship between social capital and happiness suggest that happiness correlates to a positive social environment. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between social capital and happiness in a community with the lowest National Health Insurance expenditures in Miyazaki Prefecture (Japan). This cross‐sectional study targeted 2730 residents in the community aged 40–75 years who were covered by National Health Insurance in 2015. A self‐administered questionnaire consisting of questions focusing on demographic characteristics, happiness, and social capital was sent to the residents, and 1106 of them (40.5%) returned the questionnaires by the deadline. The analysis of responses indicated a positive relationship between social capital and happiness with regard to all three factors of social capital (trust, connections and interaction, and social participation). Evaluating the relationship between social capital and health in terms of happiness is important to creating a lively society in which citizens support one another, in addition to promoting physical and mental well‐being.

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To reduce the risk of long-term care, it is important to prevent the functional decline of the locomotorium of elderly individuals early in life. This study aimed to clarify locomotive syndrome (LS) in Japanese office workers. The participants included 263 workers that mainly performed deskwork. Participants performed the LS risk test and completed a self-administered questionnaire survey that focused on lifestyle-related diseases, anxiety about physical strength, pain in the locomotorium, and health-related quality of life. Sixty participants (22.8%) were at risk for LS, and 17.5% of these participants were in their 20s. Of the participants at risk for LS (LS group), 30.0% had anxiety about physical strength, which was a significantly high ratio compared to the 14.3% of participants who expressed anxiety about physical strength, but were not at risk for LS (non-LS group) (χ 2 = 6.479, p < .05). There were significant differences between risk for LS and pain in the back and hip joints (χ 2 = 5.813, p < .05, χ 2 = 4.895, p < .05). The LS group had a significantly lower mean physical summary score than the non-LS group (t = 3.286, p < .01). Thus, an intervention to prevent LS is important during the early stages, and signs such as pain in the locomotorium and anxiety about physical strength must not be overlooked.