Thrilling feats of derring-do in Japanese reality challenge

Scene from “The Quest” —PHOTO COURTESY OF NIPPON TV

TOKYO—Comedian Ayako Imoto scaled the 9,020-meter (13,020-foot) Mt. Eiger, one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps in Switzerland.

Teruyoshi Uchimura, the other half of the comic duo Utchan Naccan, had to complete a gymnastics routine using parallel bars by the lakeside overlooking Mt. Fuji in only three days.

These daring acts are for the long-running travel-adventure show “The Quest,” which airs in the Philippines on Sony Gem television. “We send people to different parts of the world and push them to their limits,” explained program producer Yokota Takashi to Asian journalists in an interview inside the Nippon TV studios here in Tokyo.

“The Quest” doesn’t just feature wacky challenges—like cooking “shabu-shabu” in a glacier, or riding the most dizzying theme park rides—but also nail-biting stunts, like the ones Ayako and Teruyoshi did. Yokota explained: “[Teruyoshi] is 52. He trained for this challenge, then went on location for three days. He couldn’t do it there, but was able to pull it off during another taping day in Tokyo.”

Yokota also pointed out that Ayako, who isn’t a professional mountaineer, cried a lot during her ascent to Mt. Eiger. “But she didn’t give up until she reached the peak. Each day, she’d look at the camera and say she wanted to quit,” Yokota disclosed.

The comedienne purposely gained weight because she needed the energy to climb, Yokota related. He also said Ayako had climbed some of the world’s tallest peaks for “The Quest” in the last seven years, such as Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Aconcagua, Matterhorn, Manaslu, Kinabalu and McKinley. According to an online report, Ayako attempted to scale Mt. Everest in 2014, but later agreed to cancel the climb due to an unforeseen avalanche before her scheduled ascent that reportedly killed several sherpas or mountain guides.

Asked how the show maintains the safety and security of its challengers as they travel the globe to perform the challenges, Yokota said members of the production team would first do simulations.

As to the secret of why “The Quest,” which first aired 10 years ago, continues to dominate Japanese television in terms of ratings, the producer pointed out: “The effort that a challenger exerts to accomplish his task is what draws the audience to it. It’s also because the competition within the program is pretty fierce. All the different teams want their challenge to be the most entertaining.”

“The Quest” airs every Friday at 10:10 p.m. Sony Gem is available on SkyCable Channel 116 in Metro Manila and on Channel 222 in Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo and Baguio.