Nipponica

In 1998, a Japanese man was stripped naked and left alone in an almost-empty apartment as part of a challenge for a reality TV show.

Tomoaki Hamatsu, known as Nasubi, was left with only a pen, some blank postcards, a telephone and rack full of magazines. But he was not there to read. The concept of the show was to see if a human being could survive on competition prizes alone. In order to win the challenge, the value of the prizes he won had to reach a certain financial threshold - 1m yen, around £6,000 at the time.

He would not emerge for 15 months, following a gradual descent into depression and mania, driven by hunger and isolation. Nearly three decades later, Nasubi's ordeal is being revisited as part of a new film that has just screened at the Sheffield Documentary Festival.

I just got a chance to watch this last night and it was a thoughtfully produced story covering many issues in Japanese society include school bullying, mental illness, and the exploitative entertainment industry. Nasubi tells his story well and eloquently explains the suffering that he endured. A great watch and a good historical document for those that never got to see 電波少年 in person.