Hulu will release a documentary next month titled The Contestant, which will take a closer look at the exploits of a controversial Japanese reality TV show. Reports suggest that comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, aka Nasubi, appeared on A Life in Prizes (English for Susunu! Denpa Shōnen) and faced challenges that were not just extreme but also humiliating.
Interestingly, Tomoaki Hamatsu, who is currently 48 years old, is active on social media. He has profiles on X (previously known as Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook. During his time on A Life in Prizes, Hamatsu remained clothless and in solitude for more than a year. Furthermore, the show forced him to survive on mail-in coupon redemptions for things such as food. The comedian’s nickname, Nasubi, derived from the shape of his jaw, for which he was bullied as a child.
According to DOC NYC, the synopsis of the upcoming documentary reads, “In 1998, Tomoaki Hamatsu, an aspiring Japanese comedian who became known as Nasubi, participated in a reality TV program. His Sisyphean challenge: to live alone in an apartment and subsist entirely off what he could win in magazine sweepstakes until he reaches 1 million yen in prizes.
It further reads, “As days turn to weeks and months, the program, which is live-streamed, unbeknownst to Nasubi, grows popular, and the conditions take their toll on our hero. At the dawn of the internet age, this striking film forewarns the ethical concerns of reality entertainment in the 21st century.”
The director of The Contestant is Clair Titley. Per IMDb, some of her other works include The British Woman on Death Row, Britain’s Oldest Stand Up, and more. In addition, its producers are Andee Ryder, Megumi Inman, and Ian Bonhôte.
In 2016, Tomoaki Hamatsu scaled Mount Everest after multiple aborted attempts
After obtaining rewards on A Life in Prizes, Tomoaki Hamatsu danced to celebrate his achievements. For example, he did that after he received a pot of kimchi. The soon-to-release documentary interviews his friends and family members, who expressed various emotions about the success of the controversial show. They felt terrible for Hamatsu’s plight, especially because he remained naked during his run.
When Clair Titley learned of A Life in Prizes, she got in touch with the comedian to learn his side of the story. In a Zoom interview with The Associated Press, Titley stated, “I felt that they were kind of dismissive and even derogatory to an extent about, you know, look at those crazy Japanese. And I really wanted to know Nasubi’s story. I really wanted to know what had happened to him, why he’d stayed in there.”
After the reality TV show came to an end, Tomoaki Hamatsu became a household name in Japan. Unfortunately, he did not receive any treatment for the psychological and physical torments he endured. Eventually, according to Movie Web, he made slow and steady progress. He made the aim to scale Mount Everest and successfully managed to do so in 2016 after three aborted attempts. Furthermore, he received a standing ovation after The Contestant’s screening in New York. He currently balances his schedule between acting and reconstructing Fukushima, a region in Japan that was devastated by a nuclear disaster in 2011.
The Contestant will be released on Hulu on May 2, 2024.
