Earlier than the West’s fascination—obsession, actually—with actuality TV, there was Denpa Shonen, the place a Japanese man was left alone, bare in a room, for a complete 12 months within the hopes of successful a big money prize. Unbeknown to him, his expertise was being broadcast to tens of millions of viewers. So the place is Nasubi now and what occurred to him after this unimaginable, if not ethically questionable, social experiment?
His story is the topic of The Contestant, a documentary by British filmmaker Clair Titley, obtainable to stream on Hulu as of Could 2, 2024. Nasubi is the pseudonym of a Japanese comic, whose actual identify is Tomoaki Hamatsu.
In 1998, Nasubi thought he was auditioning for a TV present when producer Toshio Tsuchiya, enlisted him to participate in a problem. Remoted in an condominium devoid of furnishings and meals, Nasubi was ordered to strip bare. He was required to win all the things he wanted for day by day dwelling by coming into contests from a pile of magazines offered to him, with the purpose of successful 1 million yen value of prizes (round $8,000) to finish the experiment.
Though Nasubi might have left at any time, his sheer dedication saved him within the room for 15 months, minimize off from all household contact. What Nasubi didn’t know was the viewers of 15 million watching his complete expertise. With out his information or consent, he turned probably the most well-known man in Japan in a demented type of Truman Present. So the place is Nasubi now? Learn on to search out out.
The place is Nasubi now?
Hamatsu nonetheless sometimes works as a comic and actor however spends most of his time as an activist and advocate, working to boost funds for his hometown of Fukushima which was devasted by an earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear catastrophe in 2011.
“I would like everybody to know the individuals of Fukushima are working laborious,” he instructed the Related Press in April 2024. “Life is steadily returning to what was within the exclusion zones. After all, I understand the street to decommissioning the nuclear crops remains to be a protracted battle. However I would love individuals to know the Fukushima of right now, really feel hope by visiting Fukushima and watch Fukushima rebuild.”
The documentary marks 25 years since he discovered himself an unwitting participant in a actuality TV present. “My intuition for survival kicked in, so I simply needed to survive and do no matter to get out of this. So I’ve to realize this sweepstake purpose to get out,” he instructed TVInsider, reflecting on his time on the present in an interview translated from Japanese.
“So every time I bought the little product within the contest, I bought a pleasure—that was a extremely real pleasure that I felt, nevertheless it was on the identical time it was a combat with solitude, loneliness, and all different issues. So I spotted that my coronary heart was breaking little by little, and so I couldn’t actually afford to consider making individuals chuckle on the finish. It was my intuition for survival to kick in.”
He continued, explaining how he’s leveraged his fame as a platform from which to do good. “It’s a protracted journey for me to make my coronary heart right into a optimistic motion, geared to the optimistic issues however when in 2011 went enormous East Japan earthquake hit. I’m from Fukushima, so I went to the affected space, and other people there have been comfortable, inspired by me. As a result of on this location, individuals have been complaining about, “There’s no privateness, there’s not sufficient meals,” after which they keep in mind me. I had nothing, so I might inform them, ‘At the very least you might have a human contact. It is vitally wholesome for you that you’re surrounded by these fellow individuals who take care of one another.’”
He concluded: “In order that type of factor turned larger due to my expertise of this actuality present. I might assist individuals in that approach and provides new hope. And say they stated they understand, ‘Oh, you have been consuming pet food. We’re consuming human meals,’ that type of factor. … Generally I felt like I shouldn’t have finished the truth present, however now I really feel like I needed to stay with it and make a use of it.”
The Contestant is out there to stream on hulu now.
