The TV Tokyo series, "Inaka ni Tomaro" ("Let's Spend the Night in the Countryside"; Sunday 7 p.m.), which started several months ago, is categorized as a travel show, but its appeal is similar to that which characterizes reality shows, namely the spectacle of people placed in real-life situations that test their character.
Taking advantage of the current interest in Japanese rural life exploited on shows like Nippon TV's "Ichi-okunin no Daishitsumon" and NHK's "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kanpai," the producers of "Inaka" send camera crews into remote villages where they confront people on the street and in fields and get themselves invited into their homes to enjoy rustic hospitality.
Like "Tsurube," "Inaka" uses Japanese celebrities for infiltration purposes, but they are charged with something more difficult: They not only have to get invited into private homes, they have to spend the night there. So while the usual features of travel shows have a place on the program, they are by necessity secondary to the "negotiations" for securing shelter for the night.