Although I don’t commonly succumb to sitting in front of the TV for more than an hour, I couldn’t turn away from a show as bizarre as its title. On Tuesday June 24, ABC aired its first episode of “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” and I was intrigued by the reactions and interactions of the contestants with the culture of Japan.

The first episode introduces 10 Americans (many who claim to have never traveled out of the country) who are helplessly thrown into a Japanese game show called “Majide!” Rome Kanda, the host, explains that “majide” means “you’ve got to be crazy!” which already gives you a hint about the content of the show.

Kanda is basically the only translator for the Americans during the game show filming, and provides them with utmost support while at the same time making fun of them with the Japanese audience. But more on that later, let’s backtrack to the beginning of the show.

One by one the contestants introduce themselves and board a bus. They have no idea where they are going until the American host (Tony Sano) reveals, that they are headed off to Japan!!! They rejoice and one of them spontaneously shouts out “SUSHI!!!”

Once they reach their temporary home in Japan, they meet a short, chubby woman who introduces herself as “Mama-san.” Mama-san is loud. Mama-san is demanding. Mama-san is sort of a stereotypical representation of strict, older Asian woman which is probably why the producers chose her to be the “mother” of the group. Her job is basically to keep the contestants in line, as well as barking orders in simple English such as, “No shoes in the house!” There are mixed reactions from the contestants seeing as they did not understand the reason that Japanese didn’t wear shoes indoors, and Mama-san did not care to explain to them why.

“I am mama-san, but I am not your mama!”

The next morning the group is taken to Toho Studio where they are informed that it is one of the places where a lot of game shows are filmed. They enter a room that is pitch-black except for a bright spotlight which is shown on them. Suddenly the rest of the room is lit up to reveal a game show studio with the audience already in place. The group has already figured out that they are the ones who will be competing on the show for $250,000.

They are introduced to the “Majide” host Kanda, and he tells them to “wave to the crowd” in which they immediately obey. Kanda says to the audience, “They do whatever I tell them!” and they laugh while the contestants continue to look like poor lost puppies. Oh, I forgot to mention that with every time the host says “majide” it is required that the statement must be accompanied by a ridiculous specialized hand gesture towards the camera. As for the hand gesture, imagine the westside “w” gesture only upside down (to represent the “m” in “Majide” I assume).

For the first game, the group is divided into two teams, the “green monkeys” and the “yellow penguins.” Each team goes to put on their costumes and silly helmets with square trays glued to the top and the green monkeys come back to the set to be the first to compete in the challenge.

I have no idea who thinks of these contraptions but whoever did must have wanted the contestants to develop a fear of treadmills. Basically, there are 5 members, and out of those 5 one must be “the eater” and the other has to balance a mochi ball (sticky rice cake) on the trays of their helmets, and run to “the eater” who has to eat the mochi out of the tray without using their hands. The team who consumes the most mochi balls within 4 minutes is the winner. Oh, and for those of you who aren’t acquainted with mochi, it’s sticky, chewy, difficult to eat quickly, and may be a choking hazard.

This part doesn’t seem too bad, but the rest is another story. After the eater picks up the mochi ball with their mouth, they hit a buzzer and the runner must fall onto the treadmill belly first and be carried to the end of the lane where they are dropped into a huge box of flour. And if that isn’t humiliating enough, the treadmill goes faster each time.

The green monkeys manage to consume 10 mochi balls while the yellow penguins only score 9. Their lost isn’t blamed on the team’s eater; one of the runners (Darcy who we see later in elimination) failed to get the mochi to her team mate and falls on her face every time she gets on the treadmill. On a lighter note, another one of the contestants comments that she reminded him of a “crash test dummy.”

The reward for the green monkeys is a helicopter ride over the city of Tokyo, and the losers are forced dress up as rickshaw drivers and wheel Japanese people around town in carriages. Also, losing team has to pick two of their members to face the next day’s challenge. The loser will be forced to go back home.

Sadly I don’t recall the names of all of the contestants, but I do remember that Belinda and Darcy are the ones who competed in the second challenge bluntly dubbed, “Big Bugs Splat on Windshield.” Sure enough, Belinda and Darcy were dressed in ridiculous-looking insect uniforms.

What initially confused me were the yellow contraptions attached to the fronts of their costumes, but that mystery was quickly solved as I watched each contestant run toward a trampoline, bounce off and do a belly-flop onto a large vertical matt made to look like a giant windshield. As they peeled themselves off of the “windshield” a green liquid-like substance is left behind from where they landed. Clearly, the contraptions on the front of the costumes are meant to hold balloons filled with the goo. The Japanese never fail to omit the details.

Darcy and Belinda ended up with a tie of 16 points each and after the tie-breaker; it was Darcy who was forced to go home. On Kanda’s cue, a large group of Japanese men in black suits (Kanda calls them the “Sayonara Boys”) trample into the studio and dance around the winner before scooping off Darcy and carrying her outside. At the end of the show, Darcy walks away from the camera still wearing her insect suit.

I do think that the American contestants were pretty good sports about the whole thing. Even though the first episode was quite entertaining, it doesn’t beat the infamous “human Tetris” clips on youtube and it wasn’t enough to fully capture my attention. I doubt that I’ll be waiting for the next episode to air.

Clips and Commercials here

Now for something even more humiliating!!!

Sources: realitytvmagazine.com (pictures), abc.go.com