Japan Hosts Sleeping Competition.. Prize for 'Best Sleeper' Goes to Fastest Asleep
A competition in Tokyo to determine the best sleeper among professional sleepers.
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
In Japan, where the population is known for its tireless work ethic and suffers from sleep deprivation, a group of people who dubbed themselves “sleep professionals” competed in a contest where winning simply required lying down, relaxing, and falling asleep as quickly as possible.
Dozens participated in the event, dubbed “Mat Race,” organized on Monday in Tokyo by a company specializing in sleep-related products.
Participants, equipped with sleep-monitoring sensors, lay down in dimly lit rooms on comfortable mattresses, some clutching their favorite toys or sleep dolls, following simple instructions: to sleep for a maximum of 90 minutes. The prize for the best “sleeper” exceeded 2 million yen ($12,645).
Richiro Nakama, creative director of Kowa Sleep Japan, the event organizer, told AFP, “Japan is often described as a country suffering from sleep deprivation, as people here work hard and diligently.”
The country appears to be in urgent need of more sleep; according to 2021 data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the average Japanese person slept 7 hours and 24 minutes per day, the lowest rate among all OECD member countries.
