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In 1998, Tomoaki Hamatsu agreed to live in a tiny one-room apartment, completely isolated from the world, for a segment on a Japanese game show. He was allowed no food, clothing, or other personal possessions, except whatever he could win through magazine sweepstakes.
Told to stay in the room until he’d won 1 million yen worth of prizes, he slowly starved, naked and alone. To everyone’s surprise, Hamatsu endured the challenge for 15 months, surviving on half-cooked rice, dog food and anything else he could win. Hamatsu became one of the biggest stars on Japanese TV — but he had no clue. Much like the main character in “The Truman Show”, Hamatsu was completely oblivious to his own fame, until one day, all four walls of his room collapsed outward and he found himself on stage in front of a cheering audience. |
| Vocabulary | |
| sweepstakes = lottery or contest
oblivious = unaware |
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