Reality show contestant spent months trapped in windowless apartment clueless that millions of people were watching
Topics: Film and TV, World News, Hulu
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Hulu
Topics: Film and TV, World News, Hulu
If you think reality TV shows such as Dance Moms and Love is Blind are crazy, then you've definitely never heard of this particular Japanese show.
In fact, this reality TV programme has even been likened to Squid Game - so you can kind of guess how gruesome it really is.
Susunu! Denpa Shonen (which roughly translates as 'Do Not Proceed! Crazy Youth') ran from 1998 and until 2002 on the Nippon TV network.
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Essentially, it placed contestants in incredibly extreme situations and observed their reactions.
A bit like The Truman Show but with very extreme situations.
This led to a lot of viewers questioning many of the show's challenges, with some on social media even dubbing it as 'sick'.
But perhaps the most controversial challenge of all involved comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, better known as Nasubi, who was 24 at the time.
Nasubi translates to eggplant, which was the graphic used to cover up the comedian's genitals when he was naked on air.
Yep, I know.
The gameshow began by effectively kidnapping Nasubi, ordering him to strip and then leaving him in an apartment with just a bathroom and an empty kitchen.
Harrowingly, he had no clue millions of viewers were watching.
Dubbed the 'most evil livestream ever', the challenge - which aired in 1999 - tested Nasubi's endurance and ability to survive in such cruel conditions.
The contestant didn't have much to entertain himself, apart from a bunch of magazines with sweepstakes in them.
The point of the gameshow was that Nasubi was challenged to raise ¥1 million (approximately $6,500) using these sweepstakes.
These sweepstakes were the only way to feed himself too, as he was only given a tiny piece of bread to begin with.
Once the producers explained the concept of the game and left him to it, Nasubi said: "Are you for real?"
The door to the apartment wasn't locked during the show, but Nasubi previously explained on podcast This American Life that he would have 'had to go outside naked and ask for help' if he wanted to leave.
The conditions were awful, with Nasubi going ten months before 'winning ' toilet paper, and even being given canned dog food at one point as well as dried rice which he had no means to cook.
Nasubi, now 48, has been recalling the brutal experience once more in the new Hulu documentary, The Contestant.
The contestant said: "Tsuchiya was a very famous producer. I felt honored to have gotten picked. He, to me, was like a person in the sky.
"I had admiration for him. But that changed. He became evil. My respect eventually turned to anger."
When he was told to strip, this is when a lot of doubt entered Nasubi's mind.
He said: "I did not want to be naked. I told him that a million times. But he insisted. I did it. Then I told him that I did not what to be broadcasted."
The whole ordeal lasted 335 days.
The Contestant is available to stream on Hulu now.