Daisuke Hori built a name for himself as a self-proclaimed “short sleeper,” running courses and seminars based on his own sleep theories. This time, word that he’d dropped that label and declared “sleep time is free” made the rounds on 5ch and drew a wave of reactions. Commenters were split: some saw the timing of his pivot as setup for pushing new products or sponsorship deals, others demanded explanations and refunds for people who’d paid for his pricey courses, and a few actually praised the change in direction.
I predicted he'd pivot to cashing in on "sleep is important" content next.
This is just the setup for that.
From "sleep is harmful!" to "life is sleep!"
Then he's got a plan to cash in on bedding sponsorships and the like.
If that's the case, refund everyone who paid for his past programs.
But he still needs to apologize and pay damages to everyone he's scammed so far.
He's not actually reflecting on anything — he'd already decided to drop the "30 minutes" claim before the stream even started.
Using controversy to build buzz and then pivoting to a new claim was the plan from day one.
He only says such over-the-top stuff because he's lying.
Actually, this guy's been saying all along it's "30 minutes of core sleep plus 3 naps."
So napping is part of his "normal routine."
The "3 naps" part is just being conveniently cut out.
Not that I'm defending the guy or anything.
What's even the difference between "core sleep" and a "nap" in the first place…
It can't be the same as a normal person's nap.
Honestly, it doesn't really make sense.
But he's always had that kind of loophole built in.
Hori's pretty sharp when it comes to covering himself.
I think he did well.
Though I don't know how the seminar attendees feel about it.
It's probably like a religion at this point, so it likely won't be fatal for him.
Though a few people might actually file lawsuits.
I only sleep 3 hours myself.
A professor from the University of Tsukuba says sleep is important, so go to sleep, idiot.
He's a legit professor who's won the Lasker Award.
Both the promotional effect and the persuasive power would be off the charts.
The question is whether any company would actually hire someone with his personality — the type who picks fights with collab partners and forces them into apologies like "sorry for letting you sleep."
But would anyone actually want to use the same bedding as this guy?
Nobody's buying that egg-shaped chair of his anymore, right?
We don't actually know if it's fraud, so don't go posting that anywhere but here.
We just don't know if it legally counts as fraud — but he lied and took huge sums of money from people, so a scam is a scam.
Well, I don't really know.
I'm not defending him or anything, so it doesn't bother me, but Hori seems like the type who'd actually go after people for damages, so that's just a heads-up.
Though he's probably not reading this board anyway.
Though I don't think he needs to refund the Super Chats.
Yeah, that — plus a proper apology for the fraud — needs to come first.
I wonder if he'll come crawling back if it doesn't work out.
Then again, I don't even know what title he'd go on as at this point.
Probably "U.S. Congressional Legislative Researcher" or something like that.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Daisuke Hori is known for building courses and seminars around a “short sleeper” theory centered on claims like “30 minutes of sleep a day,” and some posters in the thread say tuition for his programs ran into the hundreds of thousands of yen. It’s not unusual for self-help influencers pushing homegrown health theories to later revise their headline claims, and the timing of such revisions tends to get linked to the possibility of new sponsorship deals or promotions. Opinions in the thread split over whether to view his explanation of “core sleep plus naps” as an after-the-fact excuse, or to take the shift in stance itself as an honest course correction. It should be noted that whether Hori’s course content or statements legally amount to fraud is a matter for the courts to decide, and speculation or judgments made on 5ch don’t necessarily reflect fact.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyo G) thread “[Image] Daisuke Hori finally drops his “short sleeper” title and starts declaring “Sleep however long you want!” lol“.
