The competition details and cast for the special "Honoo no Challenger" (TV Asahi, January 12, 2026, 6:30 PM, excluding some regions), which will be returning for the first time in about 25 years, have been announced. Thirty-one challengers, including athletes, idols, and comedians, will take part in "31 Celebrities vs. Degawa's Strongest Search Team: 8-Hour Endurance Hide-and-Seek - 10 Million Yen for Whoever Stays Hidden Until the End."
The "8-Hour Endurance Hide-and-Seek" event takes place at Sarugakyo Onsen in Gunma Prefecture, and the winner will receive a prize of 10 million yen if they can Hidaka Ukisho from the "demon" for eight hours. Challengers include former Japanese national soccer team member Tomoaki Makino, former sumo wrestler Toyonoshima, popular group ACEes members Ryuto Sakuma, Ryuto Sakuma, and Ryusei Fukada, idol group Sakurazaka46 members Rei Ozono, Junba Mukai, and Rena Moriya, comedians Macho Aoki, and Obata no Onii-san.
The "demons" chasing the challengers are a search team led by Captain Tetsuro Degawa and Vice Captain Hitori Gekidan. They corner the challengers with the help of Self-Defense Force rangers, former police officers, and members of the Japan Hide-and-Seek Association. Degawa commented, "Honestly, this show is incredibly expensive! I absolutely don't want a junior from the same agency to take 10 million yen!!" Hitori Gekidan is enthusiastic, saying, "This is the kind of TV I've always wanted to do!"
This program is a scaled-up revival of the variety show "Ucchan Nanchan's Flame Challenger: If You Can Do This, You'll Win 1 Million Yen!!," which aired regularly on TV Asahi from October 1995 to March 2000 and recorded a peak household viewership rating of 21.7% (according to Video Research, Kanto region). Hosted by Kiyotaka Nanbara and Fuma Kikuchi of "timelesz," the program will feature four competitions, including the signature "Electric Irritation Stick." It will air from 6:30 PM to 9:54 PM on January 12, 2026.
◇ Challenger List (in order of bib number, titles omitted)
Jun Enomoto (Blue No. 1), Kariya Somen (Blue No. 1), Kamimura (Blue No. 1), Aoki Macho, Yoshio Itoi, Hidaka Ukisho(ACEes), Ryuto Sakuma(ACEes), Tatsuo Fukada (ACEes), El Desperado, Kin-chan (Onikoshi Tomahawk), Ryo-chan (Onikoshi Tomahawk), Obata no Oniisan, Shinichi the Comedian Who Sees Off, Ikuto Kawai, Rei Ozono (Sakurazaka46) , Mukai Junha (Sakurazaka46), Moriya Rena (Sakurazaka46), Komiya Hironobu (Sanshiro), Starlight Kid, Nakatsuka Yuta (GENERATIONS), Takei So, Toyonoshima, Aoyama wins by pinfall (Nelsons), Hashiyasume Atsuko, Makino Tomoaki, Kusanagi Koki (Miyashita Kusanagi), Miyashita Kenshitaka (Miyashita Kusanagi), Murayama Teruho, Danchou Yasuda (Yasuda Dai Circus), Yukipoyo, Watari 119
◇ Strongest Search Team Members (titles omitted)
Captain: Tetsuro Degawa, Vice Captain: Gekidan Hitori, Team A: Kazuki Iio (Zun), Seizo Sasaki (criminal commentator/former detective of Saitama Prefectural Police 1st Investigation Division), "Pompom Detective" Hiroyasu Akiyama (crime critic/commentator/former inspector of Tokushima Prefectural Police 1st Investigation Division), Team B: Anna Tsuchiya, Toshiyuki Itakura (Impulse), pet detective, Team C: Toshifumi Fujimoto (FUJIWARA), Self-Defense Force Rangers, Team D: Toshiaki Kasuga (Audrey), member of the Japan Hide-and-Seek Association
