Star of twisted Japanese reality show recalls 'traumatic' real story behind Hulu's documentary
Reality television is everywhere these days, but once upon a time, it was all chat shows and soap operas. It's hard to remember an era before reality television, and while the likes of The Real World and Survivor paved the way for newer releases including Love is Blind and The Traitors, they weren't the first.
Over in Japan, the reality TV series Susunu! Denpa Shōnen made a name for itself for all the wrong reasons, remembered for throwing its participants into extreme situations.
The most famous contestant is Tomoaki Hamatsu (known by his childhood nickname of Nasubi), who was subjected to 1998's "A Life in Prizes" challenge.
Nasubi has become the focus of Hulu's The Contestant, which tells the twisted story of his time on Susunu! Denpa Shōnen. With Nasubi's newfound time back in the spotlight, he's opened up about what it was really like undertaking "A Life in Prizes." Funnily enough, it doesn't sound too fun.
Nasubi has explained his 15-month ordeal to TIME, telling the site it was 'traumatic' to revisit the experience for The Contestant.
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Taken straight from his audition and told to strip naked in an empty apartment with just a camera, table, radio, phone, cushion, and a rack of magazines, Nasubi was told he had to win everything he needed through sweepstakes. Although he knew he was being filmed, he was unaware it was being broadcast to 15 million people every week via Japan's Nippon TV network.
"It was difficult to revisit the past because I did have a big hole in my heart," said Nasubi, "So it was a bit traumatic for me."
The Contestant is the brainchild of British filmmaker Clair Titley, who wanted to smash 'derogatory' misconceptions about Japanese culture.
Nasubi had to survive alone until he'd won the equivalent of $8,000 in prizes, and as his 15-month stay proved, that's easier said than done. He was given crackers to stop him starving in the first few weeks, but after winning some sweepstakes, he 'upgraded' to rice and even dog food.
Despite reaching his goal of 1 million yen after nearly a year, Nasubi's dreams were pulled from underneath him when he was taken from a celebratory meal and into another tiny apartment - told he had to undergo the process again until he could afford a flight home.
Nasubi told TIME that those 15 months were 'the bottom of hell,' with anger coming out of 'every pore in my skin' when he was told about the twist. Despite all of this, Nasubi doesn't think Susunu! Denpa Shōnen is as bad as some modern reality shows.
Titley explained: "We put it to him that people are going to think this was one of the cruelest things on television, and he said to us, 'Well the Japanese would never do something as cruel as Love Island.' We can sit here and judge but how far have we come really?"
It might've been traumatic for Nasubi to revisit his reality TV fame for The Contestant, but with his diary written during "A Life in Prizes" becoming a best-seller in Japan, he's at least made the most of his experience and even went on to successfully reach the top of Mount Everest in 2016.