Za Gaman
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese television show from the 1980s. It is not particularly well known or remembered in Japan, but it became famous in other countries, particularly Britain, due to its appearance on the British television programmes Clive James on Television, and subsequently Tarrant on TV under the name Endurance.
The programme was a version of an activity at Japanese universities, the gaman taikai or "endurance contest", similar to rag week in the UK, where students try to outdo each other in withstanding unpleasant experiences. The TV programme featured teams from "name" universities such as Keio University
who were subjected to various unpleasant ordeals such as being buried up to the neck in sand or licked by reptiles. The winner was the person who endured the longest.
Short segments of the programme were used in the British television shows, which humorously examined television programmes from around the world. The nature of the programme, for example that the participants were university students, was never explained, perhaps to increase the humorous and outrageous nature of the clips. Following Clive James on Television, clips from the now-defunct show were also used in the nineties in Tarrant on TV. A very short-lived British version of the show was also created, hosted by Paul Ross
, but it did not feature the extreme conditions of the original programme. Only two series of the British version were produced for Challenge TV which first aired from 1997 to 1998, and it was not a success.
The use of the clips on the Clive James
show created some controversy, with some Japanese feeling that the show was unrepresentative, and some British former prisoners-of-war of the Japanese also complained about the contents. Clive James went on to write a novel Brrm! Brrm!, with a Japanese lead character, Akira Suzuki, who was made fun of by his British friends using the word "endurance".
This programme made the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most Extreme Game Show".
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese television show from the 1980s. It is not particularly well known or remembered in Japan, but it became famous in other countries, particularly Britain, due to its appearance on the British television programmes Clive James on Television, and subsequently Tarrant on TV under the name Endurance.
The programme was a version of an activity at Japanese universities, the gaman taikai or "endurance contest", similar to rag week in the UK, where students try to outdo each other in withstanding unpleasant experiences. The TV programme featured teams from "name" universities such as Keio University
Keio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
who were subjected to various unpleasant ordeals such as being buried up to the neck in sand or licked by reptiles. The winner was the person who endured the longest.
Short segments of the programme were used in the British television shows, which humorously examined television programmes from around the world. The nature of the programme, for example that the participants were university students, was never explained, perhaps to increase the humorous and outrageous nature of the clips. Following Clive James on Television, clips from the now-defunct show were also used in the nineties in Tarrant on TV. A very short-lived British version of the show was also created, hosted by Paul Ross
Paul Ross
Paul Ross is an English television and radio presenter, journalist, and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross.-Early life:...
, but it did not feature the extreme conditions of the original programme. Only two series of the British version were produced for Challenge TV which first aired from 1997 to 1998, and it was not a success.
The use of the clips on the Clive James
Clive James
Clive James, AM is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism...
show created some controversy, with some Japanese feeling that the show was unrepresentative, and some British former prisoners-of-war of the Japanese also complained about the contents. Clive James went on to write a novel Brrm! Brrm!, with a Japanese lead character, Akira Suzuki, who was made fun of by his British friends using the word "endurance".
This programme made the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most Extreme Game Show".
See also
- Banzai - uses Japanese iconography as a base for the show
- I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! - uses tasks similar to Za Gaman
- Ultra QuizUltra QuizUltra Quiz was an elimination game show series that was produced by TVS and aired for three series and a total of 24 episodes on the ITV network from 9 July 1983 until 17 August 1985. The British version was devised by Jeremy Beadle...
- Japanese elimination game show formatted to ITV