Hey! Spring of Trivia
Encyclopedia
Hey! Spring of Trivia is the name given by Spike TV to the show a Japan
ese variety show
on Fuji TV
.
s, spider
s affected by caffeine
, and insect
s that cannot be killed. Most of the trivia
on the show is sent in by viewers. A celebrity
panel of five judges evaluates each video segment and votes on how interesting it is by pushing a "hey!"-button (Japanese: へぇ~ボタン; Hē-botan) every time they are astonished. ("Hey" (Japanese: へぇ; Hē) is the Japanese interjection
for expressing genuine surprise, equivalent to a mix of the English interjection
s "For real?" and "Wow!".) The total of all "Hey"s collected during the presentation of the trivia (maximum of 20 per judge) is then used as the indicator for the degree of surprise of this trivia. For every "Hey" a piece of trivia gets, the trivia submitter receives 100 yen. Should it receive a perfect score of 100 Heys, the trivia submitter receives 100,000 yen. To date no piece of trivia has received 100 Heys.
At some point in the show, there is a segment called "Seed of Trivia" (Japanese: トリビアの種; Toribia-no-tane). Viewers submit hypothetical questions intended to produce answers in the form of new trivia; "Trivia" then "go[es] to great lengths to answer them." Tamori
(referred to as "Chairman Tamori" in the English dubbed version) evaluates the Seed of Trivia by pulling a lever. The Seed of Trivia's grade is shown as a flower. "Full bloom" (Japanese 満開; Mankai) is the highest of grades. Past examples of "Seed of Trivia" segments have included the fastest Japanese baseball
mascot
s, the brand of ramen
containing the greatest net noodle
length per package, and which form of barbecue
lions prefer most.
As of 2005, there is a new segment called "Bog of Falsiva" (Japanese: ガセビアの沼; Gasebia no Numa). This is where they take a trivia sent in by a viewer that turned out to be false and sink it in a sort of bog. Additionally, they say, "If you use this trivia, you might be called," and then they always show a cute girl doing some date-like activity and saying, "Liar" (Japanese: うそつき; usotsuki) at the end of the segment.
At the end of the show, host Norito Yashima
gives out "The Golden Brain" (Japanese: 金の脳; Kin-no-nō), a brain shaped trophy that has a melon bread inside that is in the shape of a brain, to the sender of the highest rated trivia. Co-host Katsumi Takahashi gives out "The Silver Brain" (Japanese: 銀の脳; Gin-no-nō)—a smaller version of The Golden Brain with the same shape but with no melon bread inside—to the sender of his favorite trivia (announced as "MFT - My Favorite Trivia"). In 2005, small color-appropriate banners were added to the awards, and in 2006, the awards began featuring a small analog clock.
July 2, 2003.
From November 2004 to May 2005, "Trivia" had a limited run in the United States
, in which a slightly edited and dub
bed version broadcast on the cable
network Spike TV. The editing included the removal of certain culturally specific trivia pieces such as those referring to Japanese history and actors. The shorter run time was made up for by adding trivia pieces from other episodes. Unlike Spike TV's other Japanese show MXC
, the English dialogue was mostly based on the original Japanese utterances and texts, although it was often exaggerated in a comical manner. Spike TV did not renew the show's contract, but has commissioned an American remake of the series.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
on Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
.
Concept
"Trivia" consists of a series of video segments that introduce and confirm the validity of unusual trivia. Past trivia has included exploding eraserEraser
An eraser or rubber is an article of stationery that is used for rubbing out pencil markings. Erasers have a rubbery consistency and are often white or pink, although modern materials allow them to be made in any color. Many pencils are equipped with an eraser on one end...
s, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s affected by caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
, and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s that cannot be killed. Most of the trivia
Trivia
The trivia are the three lower Artes Liberales, i.e. grammar, rhetoric and logic. These were the topics of basic education, foundational to the quadrivia of higher education, and hence the material of basic education, of interest only to undergraduates...
on the show is sent in by viewers. A celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
panel of five judges evaluates each video segment and votes on how interesting it is by pushing a "hey!"-button (Japanese: へぇ~ボタン; Hē-botan) every time they are astonished. ("Hey" (Japanese: へぇ; Hē) is the Japanese interjection
Interjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
for expressing genuine surprise, equivalent to a mix of the English interjection
Interjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
s "For real?" and "Wow!".) The total of all "Hey"s collected during the presentation of the trivia (maximum of 20 per judge) is then used as the indicator for the degree of surprise of this trivia. For every "Hey" a piece of trivia gets, the trivia submitter receives 100 yen. Should it receive a perfect score of 100 Heys, the trivia submitter receives 100,000 yen. To date no piece of trivia has received 100 Heys.
At some point in the show, there is a segment called "Seed of Trivia" (Japanese: トリビアの種; Toribia-no-tane). Viewers submit hypothetical questions intended to produce answers in the form of new trivia; "Trivia" then "go[es] to great lengths to answer them." Tamori
Tamori
is a Japanese celebrity. His real name is and the screenname Tamori is an anagram of his surname. He was born on 22 August 1945 in Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture....
(referred to as "Chairman Tamori" in the English dubbed version) evaluates the Seed of Trivia by pulling a lever. The Seed of Trivia's grade is shown as a flower. "Full bloom" (Japanese 満開; Mankai) is the highest of grades. Past examples of "Seed of Trivia" segments have included the fastest Japanese baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
s, the brand of ramen
Ramen
is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...
containing the greatest net noodle
Noodle
The noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles...
length per package, and which form of barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
lions prefer most.
As of 2005, there is a new segment called "Bog of Falsiva" (Japanese: ガセビアの沼; Gasebia no Numa). This is where they take a trivia sent in by a viewer that turned out to be false and sink it in a sort of bog. Additionally, they say, "If you use this trivia, you might be called," and then they always show a cute girl doing some date-like activity and saying, "Liar" (Japanese: うそつき; usotsuki) at the end of the segment.
At the end of the show, host Norito Yashima
Norito Yashima
Norito Yashima is a Japanese stage actor who has been featured in movies, television shows , and specials. He eventually landed his first hosting job on the Fuji TV series Hey! Spring of Trivia, a show he currently co-hosts with fellow actor Katsumi Takahashi...
gives out "The Golden Brain" (Japanese: 金の脳; Kin-no-nō), a brain shaped trophy that has a melon bread inside that is in the shape of a brain, to the sender of the highest rated trivia. Co-host Katsumi Takahashi gives out "The Silver Brain" (Japanese: 銀の脳; Gin-no-nō)—a smaller version of The Golden Brain with the same shape but with no melon bread inside—to the sender of his favorite trivia (announced as "MFT - My Favorite Trivia"). In 2005, small color-appropriate banners were added to the awards, and in 2006, the awards began featuring a small analog clock.
History
"Trivia" has been running in Japan since October 7, 2002, first as a low-budget program after midnight (with initially much more obscene and sexual trivia than afterwards). Its increasing cult status (the show obtained viewership ratings just above 5%) made Fuji TV shift the broadcast time to prime timePrime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
July 2, 2003.
From November 2004 to May 2005, "Trivia" had a limited run in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in which a slightly edited and dub
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
bed version broadcast on the cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network Spike TV. The editing included the removal of certain culturally specific trivia pieces such as those referring to Japanese history and actors. The shorter run time was made up for by adding trivia pieces from other episodes. Unlike Spike TV's other Japanese show MXC
MXC
MXC was an American comedy television program that aired on Spike TV from 2003 to 2007. It is a re-edit of footage from the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle which originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1989...
, the English dialogue was mostly based on the original Japanese utterances and texts, although it was often exaggerated in a comical manner. Spike TV did not renew the show's contract, but has commissioned an American remake of the series.