The Truman Show is not fiction. This is the cruelest reality show in the history of Japanese television

Producers of Japanese reality shows have proven many times that they are able to do virtually anything to attract viewers to their screens. There was already “Dero”, full of challenges straight from the well-known in Poland “Fort Boyard”, where the consequence of losing the competition is collapsing floors or rooms filling to the brim with water, “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!”, where participants perform physical tasks to avoid penalties and “Tokui Yoshimi no Chuck orosasete~ya” – a reality show for adults in which two things play the main role – singing and sexual pleasures.

The “Truman show” is not only an invention of filmmakers. The participant spent 15 months in isolation

However, the real pioneer in testing the limits of Japanese audiences was the program “Susumu! Denpa Shounen!”, broadcast between 1998 and 2002. The first edition of the reality show, in which Tomoaki Hamatsu took part, aroused the most emotions and questions about the moral justification of the project itself. The 23-year-old comedian was then looking for a career path that would help him break out on Japanese television. Nasubi, because this was the nickname given to him by the fans and producers of the program, was chosen from among many candidates. The stakes were supposed to be international fame and money. Instead, the participant, isolated from the world, had to face his own weaknesses, and after the end of the show he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. What happened on the set of “Susumu! Denpa Shounen!”?

When Tomoaki Hamatsu signed up to take part in a new reality show, he had no idea what he would actually have to face. At first, the participant suspected that the show’s producers intended to produce a travel program. Nothing could be further from the truth. The creators of “Susumu! Denpa Shounen” ordered the comedian to take off all his clothes and then tied a blindfold around his eyes.

The man found himself in a small, empty apartment devoid of basic equipment and food supplies. Producers explained that he would only be allowed to leave the premises after winning $10,000 (one million yen) in newspaper and radio lotteries. The only items available to the participant were a telephone, a stack of magazines, pens, a sink, a gas stove, a small table, a pillow and a huge supply of postcards. There was also a toilet in the room, but the creators of the reality show did not provide the participant with toilet paper.

Everything necessary for Nasubi to survive, he had to win in competitions. In this way, at the very beginning of the program, he obtained fruit jelly and a packet of rice. When the supply of “human” food was running out, the participant reached for dog food. In the meantime, Nasubi was examined by a doctor who assessed his health condition as good.

The participant spent a total of 15 months in solitary confinement. Even though he won $10,000 four months earlier, the producers of “Susumu! Denpa Shounen!” they decided not to interrupt the program. Instead, they decided on a rather cruel move towards the participant himself. Nasubi was transported to a new apartment and informed that he was starting to participate in the Korean version of a reality show. Throughout the program, Hamatsu was convinced that most of the footage recorded would never see the light of day. However, the growing popularity of the show prompted the producers of the show to broadcast the participant’s actions live for 24 hours.

The most shocking move by the creators of “Susumu! Denpa Shounen!” however, this was what viewers saw during the final episode. For the purposes of the “big show”, the participant found himself in a room whose walls suddenly fell down. In the recordings available on the Internet, you can see a scared Nasubi covering himself with a pillow, looking around the studio filled to the brim with a cheering audience. After finishing the program, the man admitted that the isolation had a negative impact on his psyche and he often felt like giving up. In the documentary “Participant” he stated that he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. “There is a difference between making people laugh and being ridiculed,” said Tomoaki Hamatsu in an interview with BBC journalist Juliet Hindell.