What Is the Japanese Trick for Sleep Apnea?

This page is general information. It is not medical advice. Only your doctor and a sleep study can tell you how bad your sleep apnea is and what will treat it. Do not stop or change CPAP or any other treatment on your own. If you have chest pain, signs of a stroke or severe trouble breathing, call 911.

The Japanese trick is a set of mouth, tongue and throat exercises. Doctors call this myofunctional therapy. The best known Japanese version is the Aiube exercise, four big mouth moves made up by Dr. Kazuaki Imai at Mirai Clinic in Fukuoka (Mirai Clinic). The exercises can make sleep apnea milder for some people. In the biggest review of the trials, the evidence that they lower breathing pauses was rated low certainty, and they do not replace CPAP (Cochrane review, 2020).

The short version.

• There is no single secret move. The name covers a group of tongue, lip, cheek and throat drills.
• The Aiube page presents the moves as a way to breathe through your nose. It does not mention sleep apnea at all.
• Japan does have real studies. They are small, and the results run from a clear drop to no change at all.
• Across nine small adult studies, the exercises cut breathing pauses by about half on average.
• People with mild to moderate sleep apnea did best. If yours is severe, the exercises are an add on at most.
• Keep your treatment going and ask your doctor before you count on exercises.

Where the Japanese Trick Name Comes From

Search this question and you mostly get short videos. They show a jaw move or a tongue click and call it Japanese. On October 11, 2026, the article Google quoted most for this question named no Japanese doctor, clinic or study. So we went looking.

The clearest Japanese source is the Aiube exercise. The name is the four sounds you make. Dr. Kazuaki Imai, who runs Mirai Clinic in Fukuoka, created it (Mirai Clinic). His clinic page lists the moves.

1. A. Open your mouth wide and say ahh.
2. I. Stretch your mouth wide to the sides and say eee.
3. U. Push your lips forward and say ooo.
4. Be. Stick your tongue out as far as it goes.

The page says to do 30 sets a day. If that is too much at first, it says to start with 10 to 15 sets, two or three times a day. It also says to ease off if you have jaw joint trouble or pain, and to focus on the I and U moves (Mirai Clinic).

Here is the part most pages skip. The Aiube page is about breathing through your nose, not about sleep apnea. It does not mention snoring or sleep apnea. It is not a tested sleep apnea treatment. The tested version is a longer program that came out of speech therapy, which we cover below.

What Japan’s Own Studies Found

Japanese doctors and dentists have tested mouth and tongue training for sleep apnea. We read four of their studies. Each line below comes from the study abstract. AHI is the number of times per hour your breathing stops or gets very shallow while you sleep. Lower is better.

Read those four together and a pattern shows. The drops are real but modest. Only one study had a fair comparison group, and it found no change in AHI. And the people who stopped CPAP in the 2021 study did it inside a research program, with a sleep study to check, not on their own.

The 10 minute study is worth a note. Its authors built the short plan because older programs were long and hard to stick with (Nagano and others, 2024). Every program in this table asked for daily practice over weeks or months.

What the Bigger Research Says

The best known trial came from Brazil, not Japan. In 2009, 31 adults with moderate sleep apnea were split into two groups. One did about 30 minutes a day of tongue, soft palate and throat exercises for 3 months. The other did a fake therapy. In the exercise group, AHI fell from 22.4 to 13.7. Snoring, daytime sleepiness and neck size also went down. The fake therapy group did not change (Guimarães and others, 2009).

A 2015 review from Stanford pooled nine adult studies with 120 people. Average AHI fell from 24.5 to 12.3, about half. Lowest oxygen levels, snoring and sleepiness also improved. The authors said the exercises could serve as an add on to other treatment (Camacho and others, 2015).

The Cochrane review is the most careful look. It found nine randomized trials with 347 people. Compared with fake therapy, the exercises probably cut daytime sleepiness. They may cut AHI by about 13 events an hour, but that rests on two small studies and low certainty evidence. Compared with CPAP, people doing only exercises ended with a higher AHI, by about 10 events an hour. None of the trials reported side effects or lasted longer than four months (Rueda and others, 2020).

A 2025 overview pooled 21 studies with 716 people. It found the exercises seem to lower sleep apnea severity and sleepiness in adults. It also warned that most of the studies are at high risk of bias, so the results need care (Pisoni and others, 2025).

One more you may have heard of. In a 2006 Swiss trial, 25 people with moderate sleep apnea took didgeridoo lessons and practiced about 25 minutes a day, almost six days a week, for four months. Their AHI and daytime sleepiness improved compared with a waiting list group, and their partners reported less sleep disturbance (Puhan and others, 2006). It is the same idea. Train the airway muscles.

What the Exercises in the Trials Looked Like

The tested programs are not one move. The Stanford review described what was in them (Camacho and others, full text).

• Soft palate. Saying vowel sounds, held long or said over and over.
• Tongue. Sliding the tongue along the teeth, placing the tip on the roof of the mouth just behind the front teeth, pressing the whole tongue up against the roof of the mouth, and pushing it down to the floor of the mouth.
• Lips and cheeks. Tightening and relaxing the lips, and pressing the cheeks out against a finger.
• Jaw. Moving the jaw side to side.
• Breathing, chewing and swallowing. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, chewing on both sides, and swallowing with the teeth together.

The doses varied. The Brazil trial used about 30 minutes a day for 3 months (Guimarães and others, 2009). Other programs used a few short sessions a day for 2 to 3 months (Camacho and others). The Kobe group used 10 minutes a day for 12 weeks (Nagano and others, 2024).

The review authors also noted that because the programs mix many moves, nobody can say which single move does the work. That is one more reason to be wary of any video that promises one magic trick.

Who It May Help, and Who Should Not Count on It

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says exercises for the mouth and face may be an effective treatment. It says the goal is to strengthen and reposition the tongue and face muscles (NHLBI). The same page says a PAP machine is the most common treatment, and that oral devices are an option for people who cannot use CPAP.

Put the studies together and here is who did best.

• Mild to moderate sleep apnea. Most trials only took these people. The Kobe 10 minute study found the plan may fit younger people with an AHI under 30 (Nagano and others, 2024).
• People who stick with it. Every positive trial ran daily for two months or more.
• People using it with other care. The Stanford review calls it an add on to other treatment, not a replacement (Camacho and others, 2015).

Who should not count on it alone? Anyone with severe sleep apnea, and anyone who has not had a sleep study yet. In the Cochrane review, people on exercises alone did worse on AHI than people on CPAP (Rueda and others, 2020). If you snore and are not sure what is going on, our post on snoring or sleep apnea covers the signs.

What the Top Results Get Wrong

We read what ranks for this question on October 11, 2026. Three problems kept coming up.

1. Numbers with no source. Google’s own AI answer and the article it quotes say the exercises cut sleep apnea by 30 to 50 percent, with no study named for that range. The real range runs from no change in the one Japanese controlled trial to about half in a review of small studies.
2. A Japanese label with no Japanese source. The article Google quotes names no Japanese clinic or study, and the videos do not either.
3. One move sold as the answer. The trials used whole programs. A single jaw drill in a 30 second video is not what was tested.

The honest answer is less exciting. These exercises are a real, low risk tool with weak but growing evidence. They are worth asking your doctor about. They are not a cure you can pull off a video.

How to Try It the Safe Way

If you want to add exercises, bring this plan to your doctor.

1. Get tested first. You need to know if your sleep apnea is mild, moderate or severe. Our guide to a home sleep test or a night in the lab explains the two kinds of test.
2. Keep your current treatment. Do not stop CPAP or your mouth guard to try exercises. That call belongs to your doctor.
3. Ask who can teach the program. The tested programs came out of speech therapy. Ask your doctor or dentist who near you teaches them.
4. Plan for months, not days. The trials ran two to four months of daily practice.
5. Retest. Feeling better is a good sign but not proof. Only a sleep study shows your AHI.

For the full list of options, see sleep apnea treatment options explained and our page on CPAP alternatives.

Finding a Sleep Doctor or Dentist

Our directory lists sleep apnea providers by state and city across Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky, and the lookup lets you search by name or place. A listing is not a referral, and we do not give medical advice.

Common Questions

What is the Japanese method for sleep apnea?

It usually means mouth and tongue exercises, called myofunctional therapy. The best known Japanese version is the Aiube exercise from Mirai Clinic in Fukuoka, which has you say ah, ee, oo and stick your tongue out, 30 sets a day. The clinic presents it for nose breathing, not as a tested sleep apnea treatment.

Do tongue exercises really help sleep apnea?

They can help some people. A 2015 review of nine small adult studies found breathing pauses fell by about half on average. The 2020 Cochrane review rated that evidence low certainty, and one Japanese controlled trial in 2024 found no change in AHI.

How long do sleep apnea exercises take to work?

The trials ran from two to six months of daily practice. The Brazil trial used about 30 minutes a day for 3 months. A Japanese program used 10 minutes a day for 12 weeks. Only a repeat sleep study shows if your numbers changed.

Can mouth exercises replace CPAP?

Not for most people. In the Cochrane review, people doing exercises alone ended with a higher AHI than people on CPAP. Keep your treatment and ask your doctor before making any change.

Does playing the didgeridoo help sleep apnea?

In one 2006 Swiss trial of 25 people with moderate sleep apnea, four months of didgeridoo practice improved AHI and daytime sleepiness compared with a waiting list group. It is a small study, but it fits the idea that training the airway muscles helps.

Keep Reading

• Sleep apnea treatment options explained
• CPAP alternatives
• Snoring or sleep apnea
• Find a provider with our lookup
• Sleep apnea providers by state

Sources

• Mirai Clinic, Fukuoka, the Aiube exercise in English
• Guimaraes and others, Effects of oropharyngeal exercises on patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, 2009 (PubMed)
• Camacho and others, Myofunctional Therapy to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a systematic review and meta analysis, Sleep, 2015 (PubMed)
• Camacho and others, full text (PubMed Central)
• Rueda and others, Myofunctional therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea, Cochrane review, 2020 (PubMed)
• Pisoni and others, Myofunctional Therapy in Adults and Children With Obstructive Sleep Apnea, an overview of reviews, 2025 (PubMed)
• Suzuki H and others, Pilot study of oral myofunctional therapy for breathing during sleep, Nihon University, 2013 (PubMed)
• Suzuki M and others, Oral myofunctional therapy in middle aged to elderly patients on CPAP, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, 2021 (PubMed)
• Yoshioka and others, Tongue strength training in mild to moderate sleep disordered breathing, a randomized trial, Kobe University, 2024 (PubMed)
• Nagano and others, Effect of 10 minute oropharyngeal exercise on the apnoea hypopnoea index, Kobe University, 2024 (PubMed)
• Puhan and others, Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea, BMJ, 2006 (PubMed)
• NHLBI, Sleep Apnea Treatment, updated January 9, 2025

NightWells publishes information, not medical advice. Nothing here replaces being seen by a clinician who can examine you.