Tokyo Truman

By RICHARD CORLISS

A naked man in a tiny apartment subsists on his wits for 15 months. With no food or clothing, he can acquire goods only by winning them in magazine competitions. When he wins a million yens' worth, or $8,300, he will be set free. (He wins some dog food, for a while his only nourishment. And finally, after months--toilet paper!) He may not even know that the Japanese TV variety show sponsoring him, Susunu Denpa Shonen (Don't Go for It, Electric Boy!), is airing his solitary confinement in 15-minute segments each Sunday night. That's awful! That's sadistic! And, you admit with a grimace, that's entertainment.

Last week this urban Robinson Crusoe, an unemployed comic nicknamed Nasubi (the Japanese word for eggplant), emerged from his Truman Show-like hermitage with the subtlety typical of TV in Japan: he was led into another room, the walls collapsed away and a crowd roared with delight. "You mean, everyone has been watching my naked body all this time?" he asked. In fact, his genitals had been covered by an electronic eggplant.

One wonders if his face will later be covered in egg. Part of the idea's charm was that Nasubi, 23, didn't know that all Japan was sharing in his desperate antics. But was it real? (Whatever "real" means on TV.) How much did Nasubi, clearly aware of the camera, help contrive his weekly 15 minutes of glory? Was he truly confined all that time? Or is he the Charles Van Doren of Japanese TV?

What began as a cute gross-out stunt a la Guinness could now be a case for Unsolved Mysteries.

--By Richard Corliss