A Japanese variety show is an

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

made up of a variety of original

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

al performances,

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

skits,

quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief Educational assessment, assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth ...

contests, and other acts. Japanese variety shows are predominantly made to be weird and extremely fast-paced for entertainment purposes and are primarily scheduled during prime television time. They usually feature a variety of hosts that include, but are not limited to celebrities, comedians, J-pop Idols, and so on.

History

Japanese variety shows have been around since the 1950s and there are many of them. There are variety shows that deal with eating weird foods to playing weird games. Japanese variety shows are seen abroad and Japan can be stereotyped because of these shows. There are a variety of memes that are circulating around the world that try to show how "weird" Japan is. People were drawn to these quiz like shows with their bizarre questions and impossible scenarios. Watching people make fools of themselves was extremely entertaining and to think it all started with a basic

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

that was similar to charades called "Gesture". The second longest-running Japanese television show, which is a comedy, is Shōten which began running in 1966 on Nippon TV. Television in Japan made a big impact in the 1930s but then was put to a halt because of WWII. After WWII NHK and Nippon television were able to start up again around 1953. One of the first shows to have started on Nippon TV was

Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! , often abbreviated or just , is a Japanese variety show hosted by popular Japanese owarai duo Downtown, with comedian Hōsei Tsukitei (formerly known as Hōsei Yamasaki) and owarai duo Cocorico co-hosting. The program has been broadcast on ...

, which started in 1989 and is still running to this day with 1378 episodes as of Oct 29, 2017. ''

Takeshi's Castle is a Japanese game show that aired between 1986 and 1990 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). It features the Japanese comedian Takeshi Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) as a count who owns a castle and sets up difficult physical challeng ...

'' is yet another older show that had aired between 1986 and 1990 with 133 episodes total.

Current situation

Japanese television programs such as

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

and

Utaban was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally ai ...

(cancelled 2010) continue in an almost pristine format from the same

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

of years before. The only major changes have been the increasing disappearance of live backup music since the 1980s. A once-popular host

Kyosen Ōhashi was a Japanese television host and writer. He also served briefly as a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. His real name was Ōhashi Katsumi (大橋克巳).is a segment in

Gaki no Tsukai , often abbreviated or just , is a Japanese variety show hosted by popular Japanese owarai duo Downtown, with comedian Hōsei Tsukitei (formerly known as Hōsei Yamasaki) and owarai duo Cocorico co-hosting. The program has been broadcast on N ...

, hosted by the comedy duo

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. In one part, if the male contestants fail to say a tongue-twister correctly, they get hit in the

crotch In humans, the crotch is the bottom of the pelvis (the region of the body where the legs join the torso) and is often considered to include the groin and genitals. Etymology ''Crotch'' is derived from ''crutch''; it "was first used in 1539 to ...

by a spring-loaded pole (The Chinko Machine, or, literally, the Penis Machine), causing great pain.

Hitoshi Matsumoto , commonly known as , is a Japanese film director and one of Japan's most popular comedians and TV hosts. He is one half of the comedy duo Downtown alongside Masatoshi Hamada. Like Hamada, Matsumoto was born and raised in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefect ...

attempted to withdraw but the host - his comedy partner and co-host

Masatoshi Hamada is a Japanese comedian best known as the ''tsukkomi'' half of the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. His nickname is . Hamada is married to Natsumi Ogawa, with whom he has two children. Early life Hamada was born near Da ...

, cajoled him back on the platform.

Controversy regarding game shows

Japanese

game shows A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

have been known for including very cruel challenges, with ''

Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' stating in 2008 "the Japanese have elevated cruelty to an art form." In 2002, it was acknowledged that these game show challenges had caused physical injuries to some contestants. Some of these Japanese game show injuries even included spinal injuries. In 2014, Japanese game shows were still acknowledged for having cruel challenges under the guise of comedy. In the United States of America in December 1994,

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

mocked these unique forms of game shows with a sketch called ''Quiz Kings''. They were also mocked in a May 1999 episode of

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

called ''

Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" is the twenty-third and final episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 16, 1999. In the episode, after being ...

.''

Influences overseas

Japanese

have gained popularity around the world in recent years. A notable example is ''Hole in the Wall'', or ''

Brain Wall is a component of the Japanese game show '' The Tunnels' Thanks to Everyone''. Video clips from the show proliferated on video-sharing websites and the concept was eventually adopted by several other countries. It became popularly known to non-Japa ...

'', which has had local versions in Russia, China, Argentina, Australia, America and Britain. The latter two are the most successful versions, with the

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

network and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

each having decent success with US versions of the format. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

would also find success with their own version in the UK. With foreign game shows gaining interest from American viewers, in 2008,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

would create and broadcast two game shows that took influence from Japanese game shows. The first of which was '' Wipeout'', a weekly competition show that involved contestants playing in a large obstacle course. The other was ''

I Survived a Japanese Game Show ''I Survived a Japanese Game Show'' is an American reality show that saw its first-season premiere on ABC on June 24, 2008. The show followed a group of Americans, who leave the United States for Japan where they competed in a Japanese style game ...

'', which was a reality show that used a fictional Japanese game show to eliminate contestants one by one until the last player standing won a grand prize. Due to the similarities between their shows and other Japanese programs, ABC has been sued by TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) for allegedly copying '' Sasuke'' and ''

''.

References

{{Television in Japan Television genres

Variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

Japanese entertainment terms Japanese game shows

History

Current situation

Controversy regarding game shows

Influences overseas

See also

References