Robin Haigh - Nasubi (with score)

Nasubi (2020) (version for cello)

Performed by Lydia Hillerudh in Mariakyrkan, Signuta, Sweden, 24.07.24

https://robinhaigh.com/nasubi

Programme note:

Nasubi was the star of the Japanese reality TV show Susunu! Denpa Shonen. Beginning in 1998, Nasubi was forced by the producers of the show to remain in isolation for 15 months in a small apartment with no food, clothes, or contact with the outside world. In order to survive, he was made to enter tens of thousands of magazine sweepstakes to win various prizes, which took up the vast majority of the time he spent alone. Due to the unpredictable nature of these sweepstakes, he would often find himself in desperate situations, eating uncooked rice and dog food. Nasubi would be taunted by the producers, who would move him to different locations in the middle of the night, and would frequently change the rules of the game; he was made to spend several more months in isolation after he believed his ordeal was over. After being freed, Nasubi found it difficult to be in social situations, having become so acclimatised to his unusual and solitary life.