JAPAN TODAY



 

TOKYO

Hitting the button on your alarm clock when it goes off then closing your eyes again to catch a few more precious seconds of sleep might be natural instinct for many, but that moment of weakness when eyelids shut again could spell the difference between getting to work on time or becoming miserably late.

For heavy sleeper @igz0, conventional alarm clocks simply did not cut it anymore. To help him even the odds against the fearsome sleep monster, he bought a special gadget called the “Timely Wake-up Device”.
 

▼ At 100,000 yen, his solution did not come cheap.


 

He wrote on Twitter: “I’m hopeless in the mornings, so I bought a Timely Wake-up Device (Yasuragi model) that JR East employees use. It is said that this wakes up any human being unless they are dead. 100,000 yen.”

Consisting of an air pump, airbag, and a sophisticated-looking timer, the entire setup is essentially a pillow that inflates rapidly when the designated time is up, then deflates slightly, then inflating yet again, rotating between these two states until switched off by the user.

One might think that the airbag is to be used as a pillow for the head, but its actual purpose is to be placed under the mattress in its deflated form. Upon rapid inflation, the sleeper’s body will be thrusted into an arch, not so much as to risk injury, but enough so that sleeping comfortably becomes next to impossible.

 

▼ Nothing like having a pillow push you into the most awkward of positions.


 

As if having your body forcefully contorted isn’t enough, the ringing alarm clock also aids in the waking process, and the only way to deactivate it is to have the user get up and press both thumbs firmly on two separate A and B buttons.
 

▼ Of course, they make you work for it by placing them as far apart as possible.


 

The Timely Wake-up Device was actually invented by Japanese railway company JR East in 1964 as an extremely reliable method of getting employees to wake up and get to work on time. Considering that punctuality is one of the cornerstones of Japanese companies, these employees simply cannot risk a few more minutes of sleep and potentially delaying thousands of commuters.

Only JR East employees had exclusive access to the device during the early years, but rumors of a failproof alarm clock began to spread to the public, and it wasn’t long before the company made it available to anyone who preferred a startling way to wake up. Those hoping to own one can purchase a unit online here.

Whether you sleep lying face up, sideways or hunched over like a frightened little hamster, the Timely Wake-up Device is guaranteed to rip you away from the most enticing of dreams and rouse you with a rude awakening. Hey, no one ever said getting up is easy, right?