TOKYO, Oct 6 — In diligent, exhausted Japan, self-described elite “competitive sleepers” vied to lie down, relax and nap the fastest and deepest in a contest organised by a mattress company.

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 yesterday, competing for the top prize of over ¥2,000,000 (RM51,736).

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

Inside a dimly lit room, participants slept with monitors attached to their heads, some cradling stuffed toys in their beds.