You Should Definitely Watch Japanese Game Shows With Your Kids
Television in our house is usually strictly divided: there are shows for my child (80%), shows that my husband and I watch (19.5%), and shows that we all enjoy with our whole family (mainly School of Rock ). Now I can enthusiastically add something to this forgotten third category: Japanese game shows.
Last night, I asked my husband if he had seen the clip from the Japanese game show Slippery Ladder that went viral on the Internet. He didn’t, so I showed it on TV. Then my four year old child came. Okay, here’s a point where I should probably try to explain the slippery ladder, but that would be a disservice compared to the slippery ladder, so instead you should just look at the slippery ladder. Right now.
Amazing right? About 10 seconds after the start of the video, I shouted: “I’m yellow!” And then my husband said that he was blue. My daughter, who was very embarrassed at first, said: “I am … red!” And then we yelled into the TV, cheering on our colors for nine funny minutes. (I added one punishment: every time you lost color, you had to do 20 jumps. Although I’m the only one who participated, I just really need to practice.)
I realized that these Japanese YouTube game shows could be perfect for family watching. (Note: I said many clips, not all. Definitely not all.) They are short (most of them under 15 minutes) and exciting. Since we don’t understand Japanese, I was able to add all kinds of childish comments to the epic race down the slippery ladder: “Slowly and surely!” “We get up again when we fall!” “Oh look, he found a new strategy! He walks sideways! When what you are doing doesn’t work, try something new! “In the end, we were all rooting for the winner. I would like to think that life’s lessons of struggle, perseverance, and personal strategy were learned as we watched these Power Rangers in full body suits make their way to the top.
After viewing the “slippery ladder” we moved on to the“human tetris” and“wall of boxes”, which were also good fun. Just remember to give your kids a “don’t try this at home” disclaimer – unless you’re ready to wake up stairs covered in petroleum jelly.