Most amusing Japanese Television Discoveries?

Japanese Language
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I was in Japan over the Christmas and New Year break and my favourite thing to do after a long day of exploring was to turn on the telly and practice listening.

I was able to actually catch a show I’ve heard of before on YouTube: Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!.
The segment I’d particularly heard of was a No Laughing punishment game where a bloke is unable to pronounce Massachusetts.
I didn’t realise that this show was airing or that they aired this segment specifically on New Years. So I was able to watch it. It was hilarious. When watching I discovered an earworm which I am continually reminded of. It was a pretty funny show to watch and even my non-Japanese speaking travel buddy enjoyed it.

We also saw another show which had…different ways to eat apples and reviews of different toilets?

Another time I was in Japan, I also caught some quiz show where the contestants are asked questions and, if they get a question wrong, they are launched into the air with a bungee cord attached to them. Bizarre.

So has anybody else found anything wacky either on TV in Japan or online?

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Pretty big fan of gaki here (and other downtown shows).

If you want to see more, there is a subreddit for the show and related programs: Gaki no Tsukai
It’s a true goldmine if the show is your taste.

The guy saying massachusetts is Jimi Onishi, a regular at the no laughing batsu. Another ‘legendary’ performance of his is counting to hundred in English (search for something like ‘tentententen’.

(I actually wrote this thinking you hadn’t heard of gaki no tsukai before, my bad…)

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Yeah I just found the sub reddit for it! I didn’t realise I could watch them online though!
The Massachusetts video KILLS me.
I mean, I can’t really say it properly either

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VS Arashi airs on free-to-air here in Australia - I was able to catch an episode on Japanese TV when I was there in 2017, but I was always busy at the time during my 2018 trip…

Mostly I had the TV on kids’ shows in the background while I was in my hotel room, so I didn’t catch anything particularly outrageous.

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What? Which channel?

Though I don’t actually have free to air. I moved in a year ago and just…never…needed or organised it…my TV is for Netflix and Video games…

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SBS Viceland. Though airing times have been a bit erratic of late.

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I would have assumed something SBS related.
I may have to organise free to air…

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Aye. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be available on SBS On Demand.

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I’ll try the Freeview app. Seems I can stream free to air over a Chromecast. Apparently VICELAND is available.

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I’ve seen the Massachusets guy it’s freaking hilarious!

I’m a great fan of Game Center CX! I have no idea where it airs though.

If you haven’t heard about it it’s a show about retro gaming, and the main segment is when Shinya Arino tries to finish old school games. Sometimes he does, and sometimes he fails miserably. My favorites are the spots about onsens that also have classic arcade machines.

I also don’t know where to find the episodes officialy, but here is a sample.

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