Sometimes it’s fun to flip through the channels late at night and see what wackiness Japanese television has for me. For some reason, late night is “prime time” for many of the best anime series, and I often catch a random episode at 2 am, although I can’t understand how they’re making money by having their shows on when so few people are awake. Some of the most interesting shows are quite mundane, like one I caught the other day which was essentially a man and two two cute women sitting in a restaurant eating plates of increasingly spicy curry, which were so hot that the three people were practically in tears. The reactions of the two actresses as they put each bite of curry into their mouths was strangely hypnotic to watch. Of course, late-night Japanese television isn’t all good: for some reason, Japan has decided to import American infomercials, which are just as bad dubbed in Japanese.
Another popular food show is Kuishimbo Banzai! which is nothing but people eating.