Japan holds first ‘competitive sleeping’ contest

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: © France 24 01:44 Issued on: 06/10/2026 - 11:53 Sleep deprivation is seen these days as a major health issue - not least of all in Japan where people sleep less on average than in any other OECD country. Now, a new contest for "competitive sleepers" is hoping to encourage people to snooze for longer. The Tokyo competition, dubbed "Matt Race", saw dozens of participants fitted with sleep tracking devices sprawl on comfy mattresses to slumber for up to 90 minutes Monday, competing for the top prize of over two million yen ($14,000).