Turning Japanese

With the widespread influence of media on a global scale thanks to technological updates from long-distance calling to the internet, nations and peoples across the world have been pulled closer together than ever before without ever taking an actual step towards one another. What has, in turn, developed is a concept called globalization, or the increase in the opportunity for communication, the movement of people and ideas, and an exchange of both material and intellectual goods on a large scale. This flow of influence between populations has had its effects on the cultures involved, a process that means unification to some and wide-spread conformity to others.

One of the by-products of this globalization process is what Professor Straubhaar defined as hybridization, or the interaction or mixing of previously separate cultures with the progression of time. As peoples share information, ideas, and products, one of the eventual outcomes is the bringing together of cultural groups that would otherwise — thanks to geographical distance, predominantly — be quite distinctly disconnected. The result is an increased awareness of other cultures, customs, and thought processes, as well as even the adoption of some of these ideas into other populations.

While the United States of America is overwhelmingly considered to be the dominant spreader of the media, and thus ideals, of its culture, a prime example can be seen in an alternative situation: the flow of the concept of Japanese-style game shows into American television.

The Japanese game shows have a tendency to operate on extremes; entertainers, celebrities, and everyday people alike have the chance to appear on one and participate in a rather exaggerated series of tasks for prizes or simply the entertainment of an audience. "Takeshi's Castle," a Japanese classic that appeared on televisions across the nation from the mid- to late '80s, is perhaps one of the most famous examples of this. In the show, participants compete in a series of often absurd physical challenges, from "Super Mario"-reminiscent block-jumping to climbing a hill clad in protective gear while "guards" roll giant foam acorns and other nuts as obstacles down towards the approaching people. A failure in one of these events often meant falling into mud or water. The appeal of the show for many laid in watching the often humorous and slapstick outcomes of taking on the outrageous challenges.

A look at the original "Takeshi's Castle," as aired in Japan under the title "風雲！たけし城" or "Fuun! Takeshi-jo," can be seen below:

Over time, thanks to a combination of the internet and television, "Takeshi's Castle" made its way to the United States. In the early 2000s, Spike TV aired over 80 episodes of the show, adding humorous dubs to both spoof the series and introduce it to American audiences. The result was a trend in Japanese-inspired game shows. Most recently, shows like MTV's "Silent Library" and ABC's "Wipeout" have provided not a spoof on these game shows, but actually their own versions of them featuring American contestants participating in events strongly influenced and inspired by the original shows of Japanese origin. Some of them ("Wipeout") have even gone so far to do so that they have come under legal attack from the stations that originally aired the shows (Japan's Tokyo Broadcasting System) for allegedly copying some of the series completely.