Contestants sleep on mattresses during the “Matt Race by Koala” sleep competition in Tokyo, Japan, October 05. Getty Images / Photo by Takashi Aoyama
Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.
NICK EICHER, HOST: A mattress company in Tokyo recently staged a competition for serious people who take sleep seriously. Very seriously.
Dozens of contestants climbed into beds with sleep monitors on. They had 90 minutes to fall asleep, stay asleep, and do it better than everybody else did.
Judges scored how quickly they dozed off and how soundly they slept.
First prize was cash—a couple million Japanese yen. Not as much as it sounds like. Several thousand U.S. dollars. But it was enough for the winner to use some of it on a bed fit for a princess.
Which makes sense. Every champion needs some good training equipment.
It’s The World and Everything in It.
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