10 weird Japanese game shows. From contestants biting inanimate objects to see if they’re candy or not to copping a raw bum to the face, we count the 10 weirdest Japanese game shows you have to see to believe!
10. Marshmallow Funny Face
This clip is often featured in ‘laugh you lose’ challenge videos on Youtube.
The very bizarre Japanese game show pits two teams of five men against each other. They are tasked with eating as many marshmallows hanging on strings as they can. However, each contestant must stretch a rubber band, that’s attached to the wall, around their face. They then have to walk forward and attempt to eat the hanging marshmallows.
Hilarity ensues as their faces contort and spasm in a futile attempt to eat the dangling treats.
9. Silent Library
Silent Library is a segment from a popular Japanese variety show, Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!, that’s been running since 1989.
In the segment silence is paramount. Contestants must sit in a library and make as little noise as possible. Each player is given a card, the player that receives the skull card is forced to endure cruel and unusual abuse. The punishments vary from getting foot massages and hammers to the groin, having hot tofu placed on your forehead and even tubes of wasabi squeezed up your nose. Players must face the bizarre torture, whatever it may be, without making a sound.
Silent Library proved so popular that an American spin-off was produced for MTV that ran from 2009 to 2012. It had the same rules and featured celebrities such as Jimmy Fallon, Ron Jeremy and Justin Beiber.
8. Wall of Boxes
Wall of Boxes is another segment from the weird Japanese game show, Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!
In this game, contestants are precariously perched on top of a wall of painted cardboard boxes. They’re asked to pick a number from a board, with each number corresponding to a consequence. These consequences range from a small kid running into your wall, sumos charging, or a bizarre whip machine that flogs your teetering position. Consecutive rounds are played until there is only one player left atop the wall of boxes.
7. Candy or Not Candy
Candy or Not Candy is a segment on a Japanese game show that asks celebrities to guess whether random objects are made of candy or not. The contestants have to make their decision then bite into the item to test whether it’s candy or not candy.
In Japan ‘sokkuri sweets’, which means ‘looks like’, are a type of confectionery that are made to look like everyday things. Great care is taken to emulate household items and other objects with an amazing attention to detail.
On the show, guests are asked to bite into a range of household objects like: shoes, door knobs, hats, and even a coffee table. If the contestant guesses it right they are rewarded with points and a delicious mouthful of candy. If they guess it wrong, they run the risk of chipping a tooth and are blasted in the face with compressed air. Classic Japan!
6. Human Tetris
Brain Wall or Human Tetris as it’s colloquially known, is a segment from the strange Japanese gameshow Tonneruzu no Minasan no Okage deshita.
In the game, contestants must stand in the play area and wait for a giant wall to slide towards them. Etched into the wall is a shape that players must match to pass through the gap. If they fail they’re pushed into a pool of water. The shapes in the wall come in all sorts of sizes, forcing the contestants to contort into hilarious positions.
The show became more popular after segments went viral across Youtube and other social media sites. Since then the game show has been replicated around the world with international versions created in 45 different countries.
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