Horrific reality TV show once 'tortured' a man for 15 months

If you think the contestants on I'm a Celebrity or Survivor have it tough, wait until you hear about what one poor chap had to go through on a Japanese reality TV show.

The Squid Game style show saw a man 'tortured' for 15 months - with social media users calling the show's premise 'sick'.

You can find out more about the show in the video below:

Susunu! Denpa Shonen (which roughly translates as 'Do Not Proceed! Crazy Youth') ran from 1998 and until 2002

It placed contestants in incredibly extreme situations and observed their reactions.

While the show was no stranger to some very questionable challenges, the most controversial involved struggling comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, better known as Nasubi.

Nasubi translates to eggplant, which was the graphic used to cover up the comedian's genitals when he was naked on air.

Dubbed the 'most evil livestream ever', the gameshow began by effectively kidnapping Nasubi, ordering him to strip and then left him in an apartment with just a bathroom and an empty kitchen.

The challenge was to test Nasubi's endurance and ability to survive in such cruel conditions.

Without anything to entertain himself, the only things the apartment had were a bunch of magazines with sweepstakes in them.

The point of the gameshow was that Nasubi was challenged to raise ¥1 million (approximately £6,000) using these sweepstakes.

Once the producers explained the concept and left him to it, Nasubi said: "Are you for real?"

The sweepstakes were also the only way to feed himself. Before his bets started paying off, he was only given a tiny piece of bread to survive on, and even that stopped after the first few weeks, after which he was made to survive entirely on the sweepstakes.

The door to the apartment wasn't locked during the show, but Nasubi explained on podcast This American Life that he would have 'had to go outside naked and ask for help' if he wanted to leave.

However, Nasubi added: "I don't think that's what kept me in there. The only thing I really have to say is that I said I'd do it and I do what I say."

The comedian endured an entire 335 days in the apartment after finally being able to reach the monetary goal.

As a celebration of his efforts, producers sent Nasubi on a gifted trip to Korea.

Enjoying his rewards, Nasubi celebrated his victory for a few days before things really took a turn.

Producers then took him to another apartment and demanded he took off his clothes and the challenge to raise money began again.

Some 16 million people around the world tuned in every week to watch Nasubi desperately struggle to make money.

For four more gruelling months, the process repeated as Nasubi was challenged to keep raising money with the provided sweepstakes to pay for a flight home.

Upping the request from regular tickets to first-class tickets - producers wanted to stretch out as much footage from Nasubi as possible.

Nasubi eventually raised enough money to fly back home to Tokyo.

Upon arrival, producers then placed Nasubi in a room that looked exactly like the other apartments he'd become so used to.

Knowing the game now, the comedian began taking off his clothes.

However, the room was not part of an apartment but actually a box on the stage of the gameshow in front of an entire live audience.

Once completely naked, the walls of the box room came down and revealed the comedian in front of thousands of people - ending the game.

Nasubi had no idea his actions were being live-streamed the entire time, with graphics and sound effects commonly mocking the comedian.

Left without sufficient food, no external communication and stripped of his clothes for 15 whole months - Nasubi's mental and physical health quickly deteriorated.

Speaking to Style Koriyama, Nasubi revealed: "Everything was harsh, and every day was like hell back then."

He added: "I’d rather die than feel like this."

While Nasubi went off the radar for some time following the gameshow, he now regularly posts on his Twitter and YouTube accounts.

One TikTok creator took to the platform to share the story.

He captioned the clip: "People choose money over well being. This is an example of it."

In the video, the TikTok user explained the 'hell' Nasubi went through for 15 months.

Hundreds were disturbed by the news and called the reality TV show 'sick'.

One person wrote: "It’s sick how they literally made the first livestream just to document this man losing his mind."

Sharing their sympathy for Nasubi, another added: "Omg that poor man…this is actually so humiliating."

"I hope he's doing better in life now," a third posted.