TV Asahi's Zenryokuzaka ("Full Power Hill") has been a popular Japanese television show for 15 years. The premise is simple: a woman (often well-known) wearing a fashionable outfit is placed at the bottom of a steep road or path somewhere in Japan and filmed as she sprints up it. When she arrives at the summit she is recorded gasping to catch her breath. The program airs at 1:20 a.m. Monday to Thursday, and each episode lasts six minutes.
The producers recently announced that they'll be featuring men on the first and third Thursday of each month. The first will be actor Ryosuke Miura, known for playing Ankh/Shingo Izumi in Kamen Rider OOO.
From Sora News 24:
TV Asahi leaves the specific appeal of the program up to the viewer to decide. Japanese TV has several programs that introduce walking or urban exploring courses, so maybe some enjoy Zenryokuzaka as a showcase of picturesque backstreets. Others may appreciate the whimsical athleticism of running full-speed along the street, something just about everyone enjoys doing as a kid, but stops indulging in once they grow up. And, almost certainly, some Zenryokuzaka fans are there for the final seconds of each episode, when the camera lingers on close-ups of the woman, having just come to the top of the hill, panting and sweating post-exertion.
