Aging can be a pretty scary prospect for some people. As your body and abilities begin to change as you get older, it’s not uncommon for people to long to turn back the clock or halt the process of aging altogether. One entrepreneur from Japan has taken a pretty extreme approach to increasing his longevity… by sleeping for only 30 minutes a night.
According to reports, Daisuke Hori claims that he only sleeps 30-45 minutes per night to function, and that he has been doing this for the past 12 years. Hori also claims that this habit has helped his productivity and hopes that his sleeping schedule will double his life expectancy. (1)
This practice seems to fly in the face of most widely held conceptions around healthy sleep habits. Most sleep experts recommend that adults should shoot for seven or more hours of sleep a night. (2) In some cases, people can function normally with as little as six hours of sleep, but natural short sleepers still sleep about twelve times the amount that Hori claims to sleep. (3)
We’ve broken down everything to know about Hori’s sleep habits: why he does it, what experts think, and how you can use sleep to help you fight the effects of aging.
Why Does Daisuke Hori Sleep For 30 Minutes a Night?
Hori’s sleep habits first came to light when he appeared on the Japanese reality show Will You Go With Me? During his appearance on the show, Hori allegedly only slept for 26 minutes one night. Additionally, according to reports from the South China Morning Post, Hori has said that he has trained his mind and body to go without sleep, and that “As long as you do sports or drink coffee an hour before eating, you can stave off drowsiness.” (4)
Will Sleeping For 30 Minutes a Night Help You Stay Young?
Ultimately it seems that Hori’s motivations are to keep himself from aging both mentally and physically for as long as possible. However, it has to be said that sleeping for only 30 minutes each night will not help you stay young or stave off the effects of aging. In fact, it will probably only make the effects of again more pronounced — a study published in March of 2024 found that for each day of insufficient sleep one’s subjective age (how old one feels) increased by 0.23 years. (5)
A lack of sleep has also been linked to some pretty negative short term and long term effects. If you go without sleep you can expect to feel irritable, drowsy, and notice that your cognition and reaction times have been impaired. In the long term, a lack of sleep has been linked to health issues like diabetes and heart disease. (6)
Should I Only Sleep For 30 Minutes a Day?
It’s safe to say that making the active choice to only sleep for 30 minutes a day is a bad decision. Sleep plays such a crucial role in leading a long and healthy life, and to deny your body the rest that it needs is not worth the risk.
Dr. Kannan Ramar, sleep medicine physician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told Sleepopolis that, “While it might seem impressive that someone claims to function on just 30-45 minutes of sleep a day, this is actually very unhealthy. Sleep is essential for our bodies and brains to rest, repair and function properly. Consistently getting so little sleep can lead to serious health problems, and it can negatively impact your mood, decision-making and reaction time, which can be dangerous in daily life. Prioritizing the recommended 7 or more hours of sleep each night is crucial for maintaining overall health and well-being.” (7)
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Sources
- Poppy Bilderbeck. Man claims he only sleeps for 30 minutes every day to ‘double’ his life. Unilad. September 3, 2024. https://www.unilad.com/news/health/japan-man-daisuke-hori-sleeps-only-30-minutes-per-day-724182-20240903
- Sleep FAQ’s. AASM. https://sleepeducation.org/sleep-faqs/
- Yook, Ji Hyun, Rizwan Muneeba, Shahid, Noor ul ain, et al. Some twist of molecular circuitry fast forwards overnight sleep hours: a systematic review of natural short sleepers’ genes. California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology. 2021. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.19045
- Zhang, Zoey. ‘True master’ Japan man sleeps 30 minutes a day for 12 years to ‘double’ life. South China Morning Post. August 31, 2024. https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3276561/true-master-japan-man-sleeps-30-minutes-day-12-years-double-life
- Balter, J.T., Axelsson John. Sleep and subjective age: protect your sleep if you want to feel young. Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences. 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0171
- Ramar, Kannan, Malhotra, Raman K., Carden, Kelly A., et al. Sleep is essential to health: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. JCSM. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.9476
- Ramar, Kannan. Personal Interview. September 3, 2024.
