In January 1998, an aspiring Japanese comedian named Tomoaki Hamatsu but better known as Nasubi (or “eggplant,” due to his long face) was chosen to star in “Susunu! Denpa Shōnen”, a successful variety show.
“Denpa Shōnen,” the brainchild of producer Toshio Tsuchiya, featured young people competing in extreme challenges; think “Saturday Night Live” and “Jackass.” Nasubi was selected to participate in a segment called “A Life in Prizes,” which was inspired by the magazine giveaways that were all the rage in Japan in the 90s.
But what should have been a triumphant breakthrough for the 22-year-old from Fukushima turned into one of the strangest and most disturbing sagas in television history, and is now the subject of a documentary, “The Contestant,” directed by Clair Titley. and will premiere Thursday on Hulu.
Instead of being taken on an overseas adventure like other “Denpa Shōnen” contestants, Nasubi was taken to a small apartment furnished with a small table, a rack of magazines, and a stack of blank postcards. There, he was forced to remove his clothes and he used a strategically placed pillow to preserve his modesty on camera.
According to the rules of the challenge, devised by Tsuchiya, Nasubi could only support himself with prizes from magazine raffles, in which he participated by filling out thousands of postcards. Once he had won prizes worth one million yen (or about $8,000), he would be free. Until then, Nasubi would be alone, with no human contact except for an occasional check-up from Tsuchiya.
To everyone's surprise, Nasubi endured the challenge for over a year, surviving on half-cooked rice and dog food, but suffering emotionally as Tsuchiya invented brutal new twists in what amounted to a televised psychological experiment. The feat made Nasubi one of the biggest stars on Japanese television, but she had no idea.
Although Nasubi knew he was being filmed, he was told that the footage would be aired at a later date and that most of it would not be used. In reality, his grueling experience was broadcast in weekly “Denpa Shōnen” segments, complete with outlandish graphics (including an eggplant emoji over his groin) and cartoonish sound effects. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, viewers could even access a live stream online 24/7.
Like the main character in “The Truman Show,” released in June 1998, Nasubi was completely oblivious to his own fame until the ordeal was over.
Using extensive footage from “Denpa Shōnen” as well as interviews with Nasubi, his family and Tsuchiya, “The Contestant” is a haunting look at one man's involuntary brush with fame and the surprising second act he pulled off decades after becoming into a national sensation.
Titley was working on another project several years ago when he found himself down an Internet rabbit hole reading about Nasubi.
“I kept finding articles, but most of them were quite simplistic about their history and almost derogatory in the way they described Japanese culture; a little, you know, 'Look how crazy they are,'” said the director, who recently sat down for a joint interview with Nasubi. “No one seemed to really investigate the Nasubi story.”
“The Contestant” tells the story of Tomoaki Hamatsu, also known as Nasubi, a Japanese comedian who unintentionally became a reality TV star.
(disney)
With the help of a neighbor who was a Japanese translator, Titley began corresponding with Nasubi. After some back and forth, he flew to the UK in 2018 to discuss a possible collaboration with her. “We went on this little road trip around the UK and with the interpreter we just chatted about her story and played a lot of table tennis,” Titley said.
“We had a really great time,” Nasubi said, speaking through an interpreter. “I decided that he is someone I can trust with all my heart.”
Titley and Nasubi spoke to The Times about the making of “The Contestant,” revisiting this surreal episode in their life and audiences' reactions to the film. This conversation has been edited and condensed and includes mild spoilers.
[To Titley] What interested you about the topic?
Qualification: Like everyone else, I was thinking, “How the hell could this happen? Is this real? Why didn't he leave? All those usual questions, but also, how has this affected you and what kind of person have you become as a result of this experience? All [written about Nasubi] He seemed to stop the moment he left “Denpa Shōnen” and hadn't really looked into what happened next.
[To Nasubi] Were you reluctant to revisit this? Why Clara [Titley] The person to tell this story?
Nasubi: I received a lot of attention from foreign media: radio, television, magazines. They want to interview me. But a documentary film? I felt like it was a special offer. I didn't know anything about Clair. She contacted me through Facebook. Some people said, “How can you trust this person?” But she said that she found a Japanese interpreter and that they were very sincere. I decided to be open. Maybe I was fooled during “Denpa Shōnen”, but my policy is that it is better to be fooled than to fool other people.
How were you able to get Tsuchiya to participate?
Qualification: We approach him through Nasubi. He was not reluctant. I have a lot of respect and gratitude for the way he participated in the [film], because there were no warnings. He didn't insist on anything. He was very open, honest and really quite brave. He himself is a filmmaker. He is not stupid. He knows how he will be interpreted in the West. My belief is that he perhaps participated as a sort of apology to Nasubi.
I didn't feel like I needed to tell the audience that what they did was questionable or immoral. I didn't feel like I needed to tell anyone. If anything, I thought it would be more interesting if we allowed him the space and space, not to justify himself, but to explain himself.
[To Nasubi] Had you actually seen any of the footage before making this documentary?
Nasubi: I tried to see him many times but emotionally it was very difficult. I just couldn't do it. It may be okay for people to stare, but I felt humiliated seeing myself in that situation.
Has that feeling of humiliation ever gone away?
Nasubi: Little by little my consciousness changed. When I tried to work as an actor or comedian, there were a lot of offers, but they were like, “Are you interested in being naked?” Or even without [me] Being naked, they wanted to recreate something I went through, so it was like going back to the same thing. I feel like I have a big cross on my back, so heavy that I couldn't stand upright.
The big change came in 2011, when the earthquake in Japan occurred. I'm from Fukushima. I had to go do some rescue work and I met all these people who were very happy to see me. They often told me: “You cheered me up a lot while watching the show. Having you here gave us power.” I realized that I could turn my struggle into something positive and help people and make them smile. I can't change the past, but maybe I can change the future.
What do you think made you able to last so long on “A Life in Prizes”?
Nasubi: I myself thought it wouldn't last. How could anyone live off contest prizes alone for so long? I thought the maximum would be one or two months. It was very difficult mentally. You start to think that it is safer to stay in the same environment than to change environments. As a result, I was trapped physically and mentally. I also wanted to have mental toughness, simply because this is something I decided to participate in, so I didn't want to quit. I wanted to go to the end. Physically it was tough, but that's something you can really overcome. Your body will get used to it. The loneliness, the loneliness, that's the hardest part.
“The loneliness, the loneliness, that's the hardest part,” Nasubi says of her experience on “Denpa Shōnen.”
(disney)
What was the lowest point for you?
Nasubi: when I finish [the challenge] in Japan, but then they took me to Korea and I had to start over. That was my lowest point. That was very difficult. I didn't think something so difficult would happen to me in my life. When Tsuchiya told me to stay in Korea, he said that all the anger came out, like every cell; in fact, she saw it emerge from my body. He was mad.
That's probably the hardest scene in the movie to watch. What kind of reactions have you seen from the public?
Qualification: In terms of audience reaction, what I really loved is that people came away angry about how Nasubi was treated, but not depressed, they're positive, which I think is what we wanted to do. People are moved and inspired by Nasubi.
They have also covered many different topics. You make a movie and you have a clear idea of what it's about. Then, when you share the movie, it suddenly becomes everyone else's movie, too. At the early festivals there were people who said, “It's great that you made this film about coercive control and it's very important for the domestic violence community.” It was great that I spoke to them.
To me, it's very much a movie about a man looking for connection, perhaps in the wrong places at first, and then finding it in unusual places.
Maybe because I'm American, I saw this and wondered if anyone ever thought about suing or taking legal action.
Qualification: Japanese society is much less litigious than that of the UK and the US. The other thing is that there were no precedents back then. We now have 20 years of reality TV history behind us. If you went to a reality television show [today], you know you could be manipulated. But back then, even the people making the shows didn't really know what they were doing. They were inventing it as they went along.
Nasubi: I didn't know the word “sue.” Talking to the Western press, I now learned the word “sue.” People often come and say, “This is a violation of human rights and you should sue.”
But [back in 1998], Tsuchiya was very popular. Once you were on their show, you were guaranteed fame. [“Denpa Shōnen”] It was a show that everyone, aspiring actors and comedians, really wanted to be a part of.
Instead of hurting other people by suing them, just to make some money for myself, I decided to accept my past. I was more accepting of my life. I feel like I can use that hate and anger (that negative energy) and turn it into positive energy within me.
“Denpa Shōnen” “was a show that everyone, aspiring actors and comedians, really wanted to be a part of,” Nasubi says.
(disney)
Are there ways in which this affected you and still affects you now, either physically or mentally?
nasubi: I don't want to write postcards anymore. I've done enough in my entire life. can i still eat kimchi [which he survived on when he was moved to Korea], but I'm not excited about it. At first I found it difficult to get dressed. My skin physically changed. When [the challenge] I finished and was in the television studio. [“Denpa Shōnen’ host Akiko] Matsumoto touched my skin and said, “It feels like elephant skin.” Because I didn't wear clothes for so long, my skin became thicker, like clothes. If I wore clothes, I would sweat.
What do you want people to know about you now?
nasubi: I can relate to people in difficult situations, with vulnerable people. I'm not sure I can cure those people with this movie, but maybe I can give them something. If I can use my past, my struggles in life, to help other people feel like it's okay to move forward, then I feel like my past wasn't in vain. It was a useful thing.
