"After Sleeping Well with Strangers"... Who Is the 24-Year-Old Woman Who Won 19 Million Won?

Unusual "Sleeping Competition" Held in Japan
47,000 Apply; Winner to Receive 2.22 Million Yen
Sleep Scores Measured by Brain Waves; Doorbells and Lights Used as Distractions

An unusual competition in Japan offered a prize of about 19 million won for simply getting a good night's sleep. It drew huge interest, with as many as 47,000 people applying to participate.

An unusual competition in Japan offered a prize of about 19 million won for simply sleeping. Screenshot of the Mattress Race by Koala website.

Japan's Sleep Competition Draws 47,000 Applicants

According to the Mainichi Shimbun and other Japanese media on October 20, a recent "sleep competition" in Japan, held to raise awareness of the importance of sleep, has attracted attention.

Koala, an Australian bedding and furniture brand, held a sleep competition called "Mattress Race by Koala" in Aoyama, Tokyo, on October 5.

The winner's prize was 2.22 million yen (about 18.65 million won). The amount was inspired by "Zzz," the sound commonly used to represent sleeping.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, about 47,000 people applied to participate. The 65 finalists competed on sleep quality by sleeping for 90 minutes at a time, three times in one day.

Participants wore brainwave-monitoring devices on their foreheads and behind their ears. The organizers calculated a "sleep score" using their own criteria, analyzing how long it took participants to fall asleep, the depth of their sleep, and its stability.

Distractions designed to wake the participants were also introduced during the competition. On three occasions, the organizers rang a doorbell, played the voice of a delivery worker, and shone a disco ball light. Some participants woke up at the sounds and lights, while others continued sleeping without any noticeable reaction.

The winner was a 24-year-old woman who lives in Musashimurayama, Tokyo. She said she had previously fallen asleep even at noisy live music venues. Although she had worried about sleeping alongside strangers, she said she barely noticed the three distractions during the competition.

Special awards were also presented, including the "Deep Sleep Dive Award," which recognized the depth of sleep, and the "Toss-and-Turn Acrobat Award," given to a participant who displayed a unique sleeping position.

Afromance, the creator who planned the event, said, "I wanted to create an opportunity for people to think about the importance of sleep through the unusual experience of sleeping and competing together."

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South Korea and Japan Among OECD Countries With the Least Sleep

Japan was found to have the shortest sleep duration among OECD member countries. In a 2021 survey of average daily sleep duration in 33 member countries, Japan ranked last at 7 hours and 22 minutes. South Korea ranked 32nd, at 7 hours and 51 minutes.

According to the "2024 Sleep Status of Koreans" report published by the Korean Society of Sleep Research, only 7% said they slept well every day. Psychological stress was the most commonly cited factor disrupting sleep, at 62.5%, followed by physical fatigue (49.8%) and noise (19.4%).

The number of people seeking medical care for sleep disorders is also rising. According to data submitted by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service to Jeong Chun-saeng, a lawmaker from the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, on September 10, 2026, 1,281,695 people in South Korea received treatment for sleep disorders in 2025. That was a 24.7% increase from 1,027,693 in 2021. In the first half of 2026, 954,078 people also received treatment for sleep disorders.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.