Japan may no longer be No. 1 in economic efficiency, but it is now No. 5 in "peacefulness," according to the Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In the recently released survey on world peace, Japan moved up one place from 2007 to become the fifth most peaceful nation in the world out of 140 nations.

While Japan may never catch Iceland at the top, its position is far from Iraq's at the bottom. Japan has much to celebrate in these findings, but a lot to learn from them as well.

The GPI draws on expert analysis on a number of key indicators to provide an overall view of each country's relative peaceful nature. In areas such as literacy, levels of violent crime, access to firearms, GDP and general openness, Japan appears to be doing fairly well, or at least no worse than most other developed countries. Much remains to be done in these areas, of course, and the overall ranking glosses over continuing problem spots.

The GPI's analysis of factors such as arms exports shows that Japan's levels of military engagement outside the country and defense budget spending, among other nonpeaceful areas, have continued to increase, and thus are areas of concern.

Of equal concern is the fact that the internal level of any nation's peace is only as good as its neighbors' peace. Japan is the most peaceful country in all of Asia. However, the next closest country is Hong Kong at 23, followed by Bhutan, 26; Singapore, 29; South Korea, 32; and China, 67. Japan needs to engage with its neighbors to mutually develop peace initiatives for the entire region. Unless all Asian countries increase their peacefulness, Japan's relatively high score remains fragile.

Self-congratulations are not in order until close neighbors have established greater stability. Countries no longer can pretend to be islands unto themselves.

These results are not permanent. They are redone every year. One wonders how these intra-Asian rankings might have shifted over the past half century, and how the numbers might shift, possibly quickly, in the future. Before the Iraq war, Iraq would have been low but not at the bottom, while the U.S. might have been higher than its current 97 ranking.

The position of any country involves factors that affect many other parts of the world. The survey analyzes the interior conditions of different countries, but an increasingly interconnected world means peace is always an international, not just national, concern.

Japan can also do a bit more inside its own borders. The list of issues to improve inside Japan will come as no surprise to anyone living here. Low rankings on gender equality, political participation, corruption, education budgets and income inequality all need substantial improvement. Those factors relate to the overall atmosphere of peace. If those indicators seem like large problems to resolve, they must be confronted by every country in the GPI. After Japan gets over the initial pride in its high ranking, it should get to work on these remaining areas.

True, every country has a unique set of circumstances, but the insightful power of the GPI comes not just from the comparisons and rankings but from the idea that peace can and should be measured. As an audit of sorts of a country's key social conditions, the GPI offers positive, constructive criticisms.

The analysis of all countries' different circumstances can help understand what exactly leads to peace. Some factors that initiate peace, such as smaller land area, are givens, while others, such as government openness and economic transparency, need constant attention.

One of the most interesting parts of the analysis is the interconnection of causes of a country's peacefulness. Japan's long-term stability and democratic nature combine with its relatively higher levels of income to improve other factors such as life expectancy and enrollment in higher education. These interrelated factors establish a positive cycle that helps lift weaker areas and increase overall peace. It would be great if someday Japan were the subject of peacefulness studies, as it was for economic efficiency and industrial power in the 1970s.

Most importantly, the GPI does just what its name implies: provides a global view of how peace is "on the march." Japan often considers itself a unique and discrete country on the world map. However, the GPI reminds Japan of how deeply it is integrated into the web of global connections and how many of Japan's problems, and successes, are exactly the same as in other countries. Japan as No. 5 is cause for pride, but also a call to refocus on specific successes and clear weaknesses, and to begin systematically and seriously working for peace. An index is the first step, but the second step is hard work.