Japan has a word for falling asleep at your desk, on the train, or halfway through a meeting, and depending on the circumstances, no one bats an eye. Now there’s an actual competition where people get paid to sleep. And the prize money beats what some people make while they’re awake.
The word is inemuri, or “sleeping while present,” as Cambridge researcher Brigitte Steger explains. In Japan, nodding off in public isn’t necessarily embarrassing. At work, it can even suggest you’ve been putting in so many hours that your body has finally had enough. Social rules still dictate when it’s acceptable, though.
On October 5, mattress company Koala Sleep Japan decided to make an official sport out of sleeping. The competition, aptly named Matt Race, drew dozens of people to Tokyo to see who could fall asleep fastest and stay asleep the soundest.
A Sleeping Competition in Tokyo Paid Its Winner About $14,000
According to AFP, contestants stretched out on mattresses in a dimly lit room with sleep monitors attached to their heads. Some brought stuffed animals. They had up to 90 minutes to sleep, and the winner was determined by how quickly and how well they did.
First prize was 2.22 million yen, or around $14,000. That’s a damn good payday for an afternoon nap.
Riichiro Nakama, the event’s creative director, told AFP he wanted people to think more seriously about getting enough rest. Japan has a reputation for long working hours, and its residents don’t get much sleep. One contestant, 32-year-old Chisato Honda, seemed disappointed when his time was up. “I almost wish I could have slept a little longer,” he said.
Japan could certainly use the extra sleep. According to 2021 OECD data, Japanese adults averaged just seven hours and 24 minutes a day, putting them dead last among the countries surveyed. Between long workdays and lengthy commutes, they have little time left for sleep, let alone a leisurely afternoon nap.
And the lack of sleep is expensive. A RAND Europe study estimated that insufficient sleep could cost Japan as much as $138 billion annually, equivalent to 2.92% of its GDP. That’s an enormous amount of money lost because people aren’t getting enough rest.
The winner, known as Suimii, told AFP she planned to use her winnings to move into her own place. She also wanted to buy herself a princess-style bed.
If sleeping earned me $14,000, I’d probably upgrade my mattress, too.
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