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- Nasubi’s Choice: Why He Stayed, and Why He Did It Again
Nasubi’s Choice: Why He Stayed, and Why He Did It Again
When does perseverance become surrender? Nasubi’s decision to stay—and even repeat—his 15-month ordeal offers a unique look at how the mind clings to purpose in the face of suffering.
Safa Rubaye, MD
January 30, 2025
Over the course of 15 months, Nasubi lived in near-total isolation, surviving on the few food items he managed to win and celebrating every small victory, all while being filmed without his knowledge for a popular reality show. By the end, after winning over a million yen in prizes and finally achieving the "goal" set for him, Nasubi was offered a new challenge: to do it all again in South Korea.
What’s most fascinating—and perhaps troubling—is that Nasubi didn’t resist. He agreed. Twice, in fact. This choice raises powerful questions: why did he stay in the first place, and why, after enduring such deprivation, would he willingly go through it all again?
In 1998, a young Japanese comedian named Tomoaki Hamatsu, later nicknamed "Nasubi," signed up for what he thought was a chance to jumpstart his career. Instead, he found himself stripped of his clothes, his privacy, and his sense of normalcy, placed in an empty apartment to live off prizes won through magazine sweepstakes.
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