Most of the current travel-information programs you see on TV are stylistic offshoots of TBS's long-running "Soko ga Shiritai," which has been off the air for several years now. One of the few variety shows that has done something different with the format is TV Tokyo's "Shutsubotsu! Ad-Machikku Tengoku" (Saturday, 9 p.m.), which is closer in style and purpose to information magazines, especially the best-selling city guide Hanako. Though "Shutsubotsu" has visited other cities in Japan and once even went overseas to Hong Kong, it mainly stays in Tokyo.
Each week a group of celebrity reporters seek out a neighborhood and in the space of an hour plumb it for every attraction it can offer, both commercial and noncommercial. These are presented in the form of a "countdown list" that seems to be ranked on the basis of whim. Less orderly than the usual travel-information show, "Shutsubotsu" captures the atmosphere of a community in all its diversity and chaos, which is how people experience it when they explore it themselves.
The show's regulars also come up with an original TV commercial PR campaign for the neighborhood based on the information they have uncovered during their reports. Sometimes, they even develop a special "product" associated with the area. On May 12, the 7-year-old show will celebrate its 300th installment with a visit to Sugamo, often referred to as the "grannies' Harajuku."