Britain stunned by BBC documentary “The Contestant” – Humanity’s DARKEST instincts exposed – Nasubi’s 15-month ordeal in a disturbing Reality Show!
BBC viewers were left ‘in tears and screaming at the TV’ after a documentary about an ‘absurdly cruel’ reality show which saw a contestant stripped n@k3d, st@rv3d and locked up alone for a year.
Storyville: The Contestant, which hit BBC iPlayer last night, tells the incredible story of 1998 Japanese show Susunu!Denpa Shonen, or Do Not Proceed, Crazy Youth.
Aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, then 22, was locked up, asked to strip n@k3d and tasked with entering mail-in magazine competitions until he won one million yen (around £6,000).
The man, who auditioned for the programme, was told he could leave at any time – but he decided to persist to complete the challenge, staying for a total of 15 months.
He thought the footage would be aired on TV at a later date – but what he did not know was it was actually being broadcast live to around 17million people per week.
The documentary, originally created in 2023, has shocked BBC viewers since hitting its on-demand platform last night, who took to X to express their horror.
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Storyville: The Contestant (pictured), which hit BBC iPlayer last night, tells the incredible story of 1998 Japanese show Susunu!Denpa Shonen, or Do Not Proceed, Crazy Youth
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Aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu (pictured), then 22, was locked up, asked to strip n@k3d and tasked with entering mail-in magazine competitions until he won ¥1million (around £6,000)
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The man (pictured in the documentary), who auditioned for the programme, was told he could leave at any time – but he decided to persist to complete the challenge, staying for a total of 15 months
One said: ‘Watching The Contestant and that producer should be in prison for t0rtur3 and wr cr1mes that violate the UN.’
The commenter mentioned the man’s nickname Nasubi, Japanese for ‘aubergine’, a cartoon image of which was used by producers to cover his genitals on the show.
They continued: ‘What he did to Nasubi is absurdly cruel and the entire industry of reality television should be burned to the ground.’
Another commented: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever yelled, “That’s so damn unethical”, as much as I have while watching The Contestant.’
Someone else said: ‘The Contestant was gut wrenching. Nasubi is such a sweet genuine soul. I was in tears by the end!
‘I hope they compensated him even outside of the fundraising they did. One year and three months of film and book sales.
‘Pay that man. Producer was wrong as hell for that.’
One person added: ‘If it sounds like The Truman Show, that’s because it basically is.
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The man, who auditioned for the programme, was told he could leave at any time – but he decided to persist to complete the challenge, staying for a total of 15 months
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The documentary, originally created in 2023, has shocked BBC viewers since hitting its on-demand platform last night, who took to X to express their horror
‘They film Nasubi’s life for over a year, living in ridiculously cramped conditions and winning very little until late into the game.
‘His conditions are worse than being a prisoner in jail. It’s completely 1nhum@ne.’
Another echoed this sentiment: ‘The producer on The Contestant should be in jail.’
Someone else praised Nasubi’s resilience: ‘The Contestant is a hard watch but Nasubi is one of the most beautiful people in the world. Wow.’
Another commenter weighed in: ‘This is all so very bizarre! I can’t believe people watched this poor guy on TV.’
Not only did he have to accrue prize money from the magazine competitions, he had to win everything he needed to survive too – including food, clothing and toilet roll.
He ate undignified meals such as 5kg of uncooked rice, before he was forced to resort to eating wet dog food on day 80.
Nasubi was stripped of all his belongings and clothes and left alone with nothing but stacks of magazines, postcards, running water, electricity and heating – without ever signing a contract.
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Not only did he have to accrue prize money from the magazine competitions, he had to win everything he needed to survive too – including food, clothing and toilet roll
His mental state got to the point that he admitted he w1shed for d3ath – but he tried to stay sane by writing diaries, dancing and playing games.
The live stream of his endeavours was one segment, dubbed A Life In Prizes, of the larger programme, which saw lots of ordinary people take on crazy tasks.
In an interview with The Sun, he said: ‘The loneliness affected me much more than not being able to eat or not having clothes.
‘There were so many moments where I thought it probably would be better to di3 now than keep going.
‘The toughest moment was when the rice ran out and I needed to face up to eating dog food. I didn’t want to eat it but there was no alternative.’
Nasubi admitted that he was in ‘such em0tional turm0il that I couldn’t sleep’ and at points even h@lluc1nat3d to the extent he believed he had been ‘abducted by aliens’.
In his diaries, he wrote: ‘I don’t have enough nutrition going to my brain. Being driven to the edge has brought out a madness in me.’
When he finally reached the number of winnings needed, Nasubi was eventually freed – but producers soon conned him into returning to the hellish experience.
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His mental state got to the point that he admitted he w1shed for d3ath – but he tried to stay sane by writing diaries, dancing and playing games
He was flown to what he thought was a celebratory trip to Korea – where the producers worked for three hours to convince him to go through the process again.
Nasubi pleaded: ‘I thought my life was over. So many times I wanted to di3.’
He ended up competing for several more weeks, taking him to 434 days in isolation.
The contestant then returned to Japan, where he entered another apartment and stripped n@k3d, thinking he was about to be subjected to the same turmoil again.
But the walls then collapsed to reveal a TV studio with a live audience of fans, with him becoming aware for the first time that his ordeal had been seen by millions.
He had become an icon during his long ordeal, with the Truman Show-esque programme poking fun at him with slapstick noises and suggestive censoring.
‘Without his knowledge or consent’, as the BBC iPlayer synopsis explains, ‘Nasubi became the most famous television personality in Japan’.
As well as the record-breaking viewing figures, his diaries from inside also became a bestseller.
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‘Without his knowledge or consent’, as the BBC iPlayer synopsis explains, ‘Nasubi became the most famous television personality in Japan’
But Nasubi was not ready to meet his new fans and reportedly needed six months to rehabilitate back into normal life.
The lack of interaction and food had left his speech slow and body malnourished, while he struggled to make eye contact or talk to other people.
He admitted: ‘After A Life In Prizes, I lost my faith in humanity. I had a void in my heart, like a black hole.
‘My loneliness could only be filled by those around me. It was their support and affection that filled that void.
‘A human’s love or that kind of spirit of helping each other – that’s what it’s all about.’
The documentary about it combines clips from the show with never-before-seen footage, alongside interviews with Nasubi, his family and the programme’s producer.
The synopsis continues: ‘This is the incredible story of how one man became a national phenomenon that presaged the global rise of reality TV.’
Nasubi has recently spoken out about his experience 25 years on, telling Time he is trying to move forward despite still feeling ‘hatred’ for the show’s producer.
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But Nasubi was not ready to meet his new fans and reportedly needed six months to rehabilitate back into normal life
He said: ‘I’ve realised that I cannot change the past but by changing how I think about who I am today I can always change the future.
‘When you put energy into other people rather than just focussing on yourself, you become stronger than you could ever imagine.’
Fortunately, Nasubi has managed to turn the negatives of his time on the series into positives.
The contestant completed his goal of climbing Mount Everest in 2016, saying the resilience he gained from reality TV had come good for him in the climb.
And the fame he garnered as a result of the show has enabled him to get regular guest appearances on a range of thankfully less traumatic panel and game shows.
Taking part in a Reddit Ask Me Anything last year, Nasubi answered questions from curious fans about his traumatic experience.
He explained the door had been unlocked during his time in the apartment but his mental state ‘degraded’ to the point he decided to stay.
The contestant said: ‘I was not offered a contract. I won an audition, and wanted to participate and complete the challenge.
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Fortunately, Nasubi has managed to turn the negatives of his time on the series into positives
‘The option was “Do you want to do it?” and I said, “Yes”.
‘So, I was not forced to do it, I was not kidnapped. I was taken to a secret location and blindfolded but I wasn’t taken against my will. I decided to participate.’
Nasubi went on: ‘It’s hard to explain, but I think that the people who have experienced being locked in confinement, and felt what it’s like to be trapped in those walls, will understand why one chooses to stay instead of leave.
‘My mental state was degrading… instead of changing the environment, it felt safer to stay in the same situation, even though it was uncomfortable.’
He added: ‘I didn’t think that the competition would last that long. The door wasn’t locked, but I was determined to stay with it until the end.
‘You could say it was Yamato Spirit, or Japanese spirt, I would not quit.’
When asked if he had known he would be televised and what money he made from the show, Nasubi explained: ‘Of course I didn’t know it was being broadcasted.
‘Back in the early days of reality TV in Japan, they didn’t give contracts to participants, it was an entirely new genre of TV.
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The contestant completed his goal of climbing Mount Everest in 2016, saying the resilience he gained from reality TV had come good for him in the climb
‘And my manager did not protect me in the same way that TV stars are protected now.
‘For compensation, I made ten million yen for one year and three months and that includes the money from the sale of my diaries from the show.’
He added: ‘I didn’t receive any kindness or support from the crew.
‘And since I didn’t know the show was being broadcast to an audience, I didn’t have any connection to the audience to receive that support.
‘After the show was over though, the two emcees that were on [the programme], they encouraged me by saying that I did a good job, and I felt like they empathised with me and my situation on the show.’
Speaking about what life was like once he was released, he admitted: ‘For a while it was hard to interact with people.
‘But I did realise that humans cannot live alone, so I did my best to reconnect with people.’
He also spoke about the parallels of his ordeal to the award-winning film The Truman Show, which was released the same year A Life of Prizes aired.
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He added: ‘I didn’t receive any kindness or support from the crew’
He said: ‘Yes, I saw the film. The only person who really truly understands the feeling of what Truman went through is me. It felt like it was my story.
‘His life was much easier than what I had but it was a similar situation that everyone was watching both Truman and me and we had no idea we were being observed.’
Nasubi added: ‘I am still recognised on the street, even 25 years later. I was even recognised in London and when I went to Stonehenge in 2018!
‘There were a bunch of Japanese tourists who couldn’t believe I was there. I think they were more excited to take photos with me than Stonehenge.’
Despite his awful experience, Nasubi said he had no desire to take revenge or legal action and explained he is now working with charities to help others.
He wrote: ‘I never thought of solving the problem with violence. Because violence doesn’t solve anything.
‘But then, would I want to sue them and punish them by law? The answer would be no, because that would make some people sad and injured, and that was not what I wanted to do. Even if I get hurt, I want to protect people around me.
‘Instead of revenge, I would like to use that energy for something more positive, like helping people.’
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He even shows leniency towards ‘the one who sent me to the hell that I experienced’: ‘After a long time, Tsuchiya, the producer, apologised to me’
He went on: ‘I am working with charity organisations in Fukushima and across Japan.
‘I enjoy connecting with people in person and helping bring smiles to those in Fukushima, and the northeast area of Japan.’
He even shows leniency towards ‘the one who sent me to the hell that I experienced’: ‘After a long time, Tsuchiya, the producer, apologised to me.
‘He said he wanted to do something for me and I think that his participation in the documentary shows he feels remorse.’
