Nippon TV’s Gyokuro Studio unveils two new formats

The Kitchen Trust is a race against the clock using themed ingredients

Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV’s in-house unscripted label Gyokuro Studio has unveiled two new formats, spot-the-difference show Fake City and culinary competition The Kitchen Trust.

In Fake City, celebrity contestants spend a day getting to know a real town, unaware that a team of ‘Fakers’ will then secretly alter it overnight. The next day, the contestants race to spot every change before sunset.

The Kitchen Trust, meanwhile, is a high-stakes food format in which elite chefs work with fishers, hunters and farmers to prepare dishes using themed ingredients in a race against the clock.

The number of episodes and running times for both formats are adjustable depending on commissioners’ needs. Executives from Gyokuro Studio will launch the new projects to the global market over the coming weeks.

Nippon TV launched Gyokuro in summer 2025. It has built a slate of gameshow, culinary, reality, dating and comedy formats such as Ultra Mission, Love on the Menu and Never Look Back.

Ken Akiyama, head of Gyokuro Studio, said: “Both formats are built on universal experiences that resonate with audiences around the world. Our partners can bring their own cities, their own ingredients and their own stars, while the mechanics stay exactly the same. That is what we mean by formats that travel.”