One of Japan's Biggest Global Hits Returns: Amazon Original "Takeshi's Castle" Starts Filming With New Castle and Games

The hit game show from the 1980s returns, starring legendary comedian Takeshi Kitano

The Amazon Original will premiere in 2023 exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide

TOKYO - July 16, 2022 - Prime Video Japan announced today that production had begun on a new version of Takeshi's Castle (Working title: Takeshi's Castle Project) in Japan. To commemorate the start of filming, new Castle images and some iconic games have been revealed.

Starring legendary comedian Takeshi Kitano, the original Takeshi's Castle was an unscripted adventure-variety show that aired on terrestrial network TBS Television from 1986-89. On the program, about 100 contestants attempted to bring down Takeshi's impenetrable Castle and took on numerous games set in a vast outdoor field. Audiences followed the contestants as they took on challenging games that required physical strength - such as crossing a stepping-stone pond made of springboards, navigating a maze full of enemies, and surviving a suspension bridge while getting attacked with balls - and attempted to capture the impregnable Takeshi Castle for a prize of 1 million yen. The show's unique and entertaining format - and related merchandise - made it a major social phenomenon, and a huge hit amongst children, who would imitate the challenges.

The upcoming Takeshi's Castle (Working title: Takeshi's Castle Project) is filming at Midoriyama Studio, same location as the original version. On a vast site of approximately 20,000 square meters, the newly powered-up 2022 version of Takeshi's Castle and a number of challenging games have been set up. A total of more than 300 participants, selected from more than 1,000 applicants, will attempt to break through the various tricky games.

One of the revealed images shows the newly completed Takeshi's Castle and some of the iconic games the challengers will face. The original Takeshi's Castle cost more than 100 million yen to construct, which amazed the public in the '80s, and the majestic new Castle is no less impressive.

The most notable feature is the large, robot-like arm on the left side of the castle.

The challenging games have also undergone a major evolution. Dragon God's Pond (Ryujin-Ike) was one of the most popular games - and one that drowned many challengers in the past. Challengers must navigate across stepping stones and floating stones to reach the goal on the other side of the pond. This time, the number of floating stones has increased, and the distance to the goal has lengthened. They will need to be more strategic than before.

The Strait of Gibraltar, where players go over an unstable bridge while avoiding flying balls, doubles the number of cannons aimed at challengers. The difficulty level has been dramatically increased, with obstacles along the way. Only those with a high sense of balance and a strong heart to overcome fear will be able to cross the Strait.

Mushroom Trip (Kinoko-de-Pon), where challengers cling to a large spinning mushroom and must land on a small island floating on the surface of the water at the right time. It is extremely difficult even to hold on to the smooth mushroom and avoid being swept off.

We will have more information on the scale and spectacle of our supersized version of Takeshi's Castle soon - stay tuned.