<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/japan" rel="" target="" title="Japanese comedian"><span>Japanese comedian</span></a><span> who spent 15 months living in complete isolation found out he was unwittingly a reality TV star on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="March 28, 1999"><span>March 28, 1999</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For more than a year, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-28-what-happened-on-this-day/62cb4e73-7cd3-41de-b82d-ba4d3739ff7b#4" rel="" target="" title="Tomoaki Hamatsu"><span>Tomoaki Hamatsu</span></a><span> lived by himself in an apartment without access to food, clothing or any outside communication or broadcasting.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was given a pile of sweepstakes contests to enter, and told he would have to sustain himself on his winnings.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-21-what-happened-on-this-day-collyer-brothers/d420209f-80bc-49c4-8745-b09ffc292bb8" rel="" target="" title="Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap"><strong><span>Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As a result, he had to survive on raw rice, and then dog food.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He also won a bicycle which he had no space to ride in, a Playstation game he couldn't play and tickets to a movie he couldn't watch.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamatsu believed the experience would be filmed and broadcast when the challenge was over.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-28-what-happened-on-this-day/d4494311-3070-4e50-8a2b-7fe92c41066d" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Unbeknownst to him, he was being livestreamed on the internet 24/7 and was star of a weekly reality TV show called </span><em><span>Don't Go For It Electric Boy!</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-19-what-happened-on-this-day-nikko-jenkins/e918bf40-c62f-445a-be8f-0611a0fd2512"><strong><span>Serial killer sues state for letting him out of prison</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When the show became so popular that the apartment became surrounded by paparazzi, he was blindfolded and relocated.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Then on March 28, 1999, he was relocated a third time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Believing he was completely alone and unused to the feel of the clothes he had been given for the trip, he stripped down naked again.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Then suddenly the walls dropped away from the apartment and he found himself in a television studio, surrounded by cheering fans.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In his time in isolation he had become one of the biggest celebrities in Japan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-19-what-happened-on-this-day-voskhod-2/79051106-a7f2-4209-b348-646a1fc97eed" target="" title="Astronauts had to battle for survival after spacecraft lands in deeply remote forest"><strong><span>Astronauts had to battle for survival after spacecraft lands in deeply remote forest</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Do you mean that everyone has been watching my naked body all this time?" he asked the host.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That's out of order."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The program had used an eggplant logo to cover his genitals during the broadcast.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the time after his success, Hamatsu reported feeling hot and sweaty while wearing clothes and had difficulty talking to people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The show marked the pinnacle of his fame, but he found some success as a local actor. In 2016, he climbed </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/mount-everest-death-zone-why-climbers-do-it/45d57ef0-4124-4628-8748-e880d605cfd4" rel="" target="" title="Mount Everest"><span>Mount Everest</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-27-what-happened-on-this-day-clive-wearing/056a20e2-031c-4431-b2e0-a14d8d34e601"><strong><span>Illness began with headache, then left musician with a 20-second memory</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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