A few weeks ago I was scampering about the internets the way I normally do, reading all of my favorite columns and comics, watching my favorite pod casts and stupid videos. As I sat at my desk, with two sleepy dogs at my feet, I kept trying to dig from the depths of my mind items that I had tucked away. One of those items was the Japanese television show Susunu! Denpa Shonen.

When it comes to game shows I’m sure that almost everyone will tell you that there is nothing more mesmerizing or more absurd than a good old Japanese game show. If you want to talk about pioneers of the ‘reality show’ genre then this was the show to watch. According to Wiki:

“The participants were usually unknown comedians who were ready to do anything to get famous. Upon application, they were chosen randomly, and were not told what the objective of their challenge was. Some of the challengers became more or less famous, while some remained relatively unknown
.
The program’s cancellation was related to a government crackdown on “torture”-themed shows.”

How could you not LOVE THAT?!?!

It turns out that two popular sites, Joost and Hulu, offer episodes of the Denpa Shonen shows online. I’m not sure if Joost blocks it’s stream for international users the way Hulu does so I decided to embed the first episode of “Nasubi”. Seriously, you need to watch this.

There is a short commercial at the beginning. In the Joost version that’s all there is. In the Hulu version there are a few commercials throughout the show. However, Hulu also had an interview with Mr. Toshio Tsuchiya, Denpa Shonen’s producer. In this episode we see how the titular hero, the comedian Nasubi, was picked to be the contestant. When he discovers that he has ‘won’ he is led to an apartment, stripped naked and forced to subsist solely on writing post-cards to enter sweepstakes.

That’s right. The man was only able to subsist on whatever prizes he won until the sum total of his winnings equaled about $10,000. Search on his name on Google and you’ll see article upon article about him. One of the interesting quotes is from the site Metropolis: Big in Japan –

“Although it looked as if he was enjoying himself, the show was edited this way for television. After his ordeal had finished and he was free to give interviews, Nasubi told the press that he frequently felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown: “I thought of escaping several times… I was on the edge, especially towards the end.” Not so much entertainment, really, more of a 1950s Manchurian prison camp.”

Edited or not it is an absolutely fascinating show to watch. I became so engrossed watching it that I wound up watching the entire season in one sitting. Regardless of the physical suffering I was captivated by the mental anguish, solitude and almost Patty Hearst-like mentality that Nasubi had endured. In fact, I was even more taken with his determination. It was reassuring to know that even though there was this seemingly insurmountable hardship before him, Nasubi was able to survive being penniless and bare.

As we experience an economy and period in American history that has been completely rocked and thrashed in the bin bearing witness to this man’s albeit meager existence almost inspires me to cut down the luxuries of my lifestyle, pare back on all the things that cost money and lead a more humble life.

Almost.

Watching this also inspired me to go to the pantry and grab a box of Crunch ‘n Munch to share with the dogs while I searched for more entertainment.