The Tale of NasubiMarch 30th, 2005 by Adamu |
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Those living in Japan may remember a segment on the popular TV program Dempa Shonen called “Kensho Seikatsu” (“Sweepstakes Life”) in which a poor comedian named Nasubi was trapped naked in a room and forced to to win sweepstakes if he hoped to survive.
Or, maybe you don’t remember. For you, here is a great retelling of the saga of Nasubi, complete with screen captures and funny moments. Here’s a taste:
 Nasubi on his first day | Nippon Television’s (NTV) producers have obviously never heard of the Geneva Convention. If they had, they wouldn’t have treated poor Nasubi the way they did. They wouldn’t have stripped him naked and shut him in an apartment, alone with no food, furniture, household goods, or entertainment. They wouldn’t have kept him there for over a year until he had won $10 000 in prizes by sending in postcards to contests. They wouldn’t have cut him off from the world and they would have told him that he was on nation-wide TV. |
It all started one snowy day in January, 1998 with an audition. The audition consisted of choosing lots because the only talent needed for this challenge was luck. A group of aspiring comedians showed up, and among them was a young man whose stage name is Nasubi, which means eggplant. Nasubi was ‘lucky’ that day, and was chosen over other aspiring young comedians for a mysterious “show-business related job”. He was immediately blindfolded and driven to a tiny one room apartment somewhere in Tokyo.
 Nasubi’s empty room | When he arrived at the apartment, he was shown a stand full of magazines, a huge pile of postcards, and told to strip naked. The room was empty except for a cushion, a table, a small radio, a telephone, some notebooks, and a few pens. There was not a crumb of food, a square of toilet paper, or any form of entertainment. Whatever he needed, he was to win by sending thousands of postcards into contests. The producers left and Nasubi was on his own in his unique survival challenge. Imagine what was going through his mind: How am I going to eat? Why are they doing this to me? How long will it take to get out of here? He must have thought he was in a bad episode of The Prisoner. |
March 30th, 2005 at 8:41 pm
I used to love that show. Thanks for posting and reminding me of it. One of my favorite episodes was the one where he won a live octopus, which was delivered to his room and much to his surprise.
March 30th, 2005 at 11:58 pm
That is probably the best idea someone has ever come up with.
April 7th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
I really wanna see this show!
Doubt anyone knows where you can download or buy it to watch? (*Would be uber grateful if someone knows and could tell me XD *)
April 21st, 2005 at 12:00 pm
I just found out about this show. I would do anything to see it. I must have it!
July 16th, 2005 at 5:48 am
omfg i want to see it so badly!!11111
gonna search for dvd’s on the net right now _
July 16th, 2005 at 8:14 am
Kestas, if you find it, drop us a line and say where.
March 20th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Does anyone know what Nasubi is doing these days?
March 20th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
[...] A commenter asked us whatever happened to Nasubi, the aspiring comedian who allowed Japanese TV to kidnap him and force him to survive by entering sweepstakes. [...]