Rs 12 lakh prize for whoever sleeps first: Bizarre competition turns sleeping into a relaxation race. Check rules and judging process

Falling asleep quickly usually means that the day is finally over but in Japan, it recently became a competition with more than 2 million yen (around Rs 12 lakh) at stake. Dozens of participants gathered in Tokyo for a contest that challenged them to do something most people simply hope to achieve at bedtime; that is to fall asleep as quickly and soundly as possible.

Called the 'Matt Race', the unusual event was organised by mattress company Koala Sleep Japan, according to AFP. Participants in this competition were given up to 90 minutes to sleep on mattresses while their sleep was being monitored and the final winner was determined not simply by who closed their eyes first, but by how quickly and soundly that person entered sleep.

How the sleep competition worked and its rules

The contest brought together dozens of participants in a dimly lit room, where they lay down on comfortable mattresses and tried to sleep. Sleep-tracking devices were attached to the participants' heads to monitor their sleep.


Some contestants even brought stuffed toys to bed as they tried to settle down.

Basically, the contest had turned something normally associated with rest into a timed challenge, with sleep quality and speed becoming the metrics to decide the winner.

The winner had identified themsevles only by their nickname Suimii, according to AFP.

Why Japan held a competition about sleeping

Behind this unusual competition format was a more serious issue; sleep deprivation.

Japan has long faced concerns over insufficient sleep, and the contest's organisers wanted to draw attention to the importance of rest.

“Japan is often described as a country suffering from sleep deprivation, and people here are very diligent,” Riichiro Nakama, creative director at Koala Sleep Japan, told AFP.

Nakama said the organisers hoped that presenting sleep as an event could encourage people to think more about it.

Japanese research on their insufficient sleep issue

A 2025 study that used data from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Daiko Study had examined sleep characteristics among 2,091 people and it found that 11.8% reported insufficient sleep, while another 45.6% described their sleep as somewhat insufficient.

The study also found that working-age adults had shorter subjective and measured sleep durations than people aged 60 and above. More than 30% of participants under 50 reported at least two hours of sleep deprivation.

An earlier OECD comparison cited by AFP found that Japanese people averaged seven hours and 24 minutes of sleep per day in 2021, the lowest average among the OECD countries included in that comparison.

Sleep deprivation can affect more than tiredness

The problem is not limited to feeling sleepy during the day as The Cleveland Clinic says that chronic sleep deprivation can affect several systems in the body, including the cardiovascular, metabolic, immune and nervous systems.

Insufficient sleep can also affect learning, memory and mental health. The overall impact depends on how severe the sleep deprivation is and how long it continues.