Back in '98, an unusual reality show aired on Japanese television. The show was called Denpa Shonen. It featured the travails of a lone "contestant", nicknamed Nasubi, who was locked up in a tiny little apartment with no clothes, food, furniture, utensils, or toiletry to speak of. No, poor Nasubi was told that he must win any and all of his necessities by entering magazine sweepstakes and giveaways. That's right. He had to spend hours every day filling out and mailing hundreds of contest forms just so that he can win things to eat and subsist. He was told that he could only leave when he had won a million yen worth of goods. In almost every sense of the word, the show was torture. It was amazing that Nasubi survived the 15 month long ordeal.
The show was made available for viewing online by Hulu last year, and it was one of my guilty pleasures at the time. At first, I was curious and immediately horrified by the show's premise. And then I quickly began to find humor in the absurdity of the show. But after a few episodes, I took away a deeper meaning. The timing of the show coincided with a period of personal hardship at the time, and it strangely gave me strength to know that there are worse circumstances from which the human spirit can triumph. Seeing Nasubi take pleasure in the smallest of victories, like winning a sack of rice, made me want to continue fighting in the face of my own tribulations. And it gave me a strange sense of humility and gratitude for what I did have.
Oct.7
10
Back in '98, an unusual reality show aired on Japanese television. The show was called Denpa Shonen. It featured the travails of a lone "contestant", nicknamed Nasubi, who was locked up in a tiny little apartment with no clothes, food, furniture, utensils, or toiletry to speak of. No, poor Nasubi was told that he must win any and all of his necessities by entering magazine sweepstakes and giveaways. That's right. He had to spend hours every day filling out and mailing hundreds of contest forms just so that he can win things to eat and subsist. He was told that he could only leave when he had won a million yen worth of goods. In almost every sense of the word, the show was torture. It was amazing that Nasubi survived the 15 month long ordeal.
The show was made available for viewing online by Hulu last year, and it was one of my guilty pleasures at the time. At first, I was curious and immediately horrified by the show's premise. And then I quickly began to find humor in the absurdity of the show. But after a few episodes, I took away a deeper meaning. The timing of the show coincided with a period of personal hardship at the time, and it strangely gave me strength to know that there are worse circumstances from which the human spirit can triumph. Seeing Nasubi take pleasure in the smallest of victories, like winning a sack of rice, made me want to continue fighting in the face of my own tribulations. And it gave me a strange sense of humility and gratitude for what I did have.
