Quiz $ Millionaire

Quiz $ Millionaire (クイズ$ミリオネア, Kuizu $ Mirionea), sometimes referred to as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,^[1] is a Japanese quiz show based on the original program of the latter title created by Celador International and later 2waytraffic. It premiered on Fuji Television on April 20, 2000, and aired its final episode on January 2, 2013. The show was hosted by television personality Monta Mino (みの もんた, Mino Monta) throughout its entire run.^[2]

Quiz $ Millionaire
Also known as	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Japanese	クイズ$ミリオネア
Created by	David Briggs Steven Knight Mike Whitehill
Directed by	Keiichi Tanaka
Presented by	Monta Mino
Narrated by	Seigo M. Takei (2000) Kyōya Kimura (2000–2013)
Composers	Keith Strachan Matthew Strachan
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
Production
Producers	Toshihiko Matsuo Hanako Aso Hiroyasu Hanazono
Running time	53 minutes–3 hours[1]
Production company	Fuji Television
Original release
Network	FNS (Fuji TV)
Release	April 20, 2000 (2000-04-20) – January 2, 2013 (2013-01-02)

The main goal of the game is to win ¥10,000,000 by answering fifteen multiple-choice questions correctly. There are three lifelines - Fifty-Fifty (フィフティ・フィフティ, Fifuti Fifuti), Phone-a-Friend (テレフォン, Terefon) (a phone call to four supporters who are in one place), and Ask The Audience (オーディエンス, Ōdiensu). Whenever a contestant answers the fifth question correct, he is guaranteed ¥100,000. When a contestant answers the tenth question correct, he is guaranteed ¥1,000,000.

This version has the distinction of having the most top prize winners in the worldwide Millionaire franchise.^[3] Seigo M. Takei (武居“M”征吾, Takei Emu Seigo) was the first announcer of the show before being replaced by Kyōya Kimura (木村 匡也, Kimura Kyōya) in August of the show's debut year.

Broadcast history

The show was broadcast every Thursday^[4] regularly from April 20, 2000 to March 29, 2007. From May 3, 2007 onward, the show was brought back for occasional specials, with the most recent one being broadcast January 2, 2013.^[1][5]

Super Millionaire

Super Millionaire was a spin-off of Quiz $ Millionaire. The show was broadcast twice, with the first episode raising the grand prize to ¥20 million. The series also added four new rules:^[6]

• There were only 10 questions, as opposed to the normal 15.
• Questions 1-5 had 4 choices, and 6-10 had 2 choices, meaning contestants could not use 50:50 after the 5th question.
• Contestants could not walk away on the 9th or 10th questions.
• There were no guaranteed sums.

Clock format

In 2009, the series became the first international version of Millionaire to adopt the clock format from the American version of the show.^[6] Contestants now have time limits for each question: 30 seconds each for questions 1–9, 1 minute each for questions 10–12, and 3 minutes each for questions 13–15. Usage of lifelines temporarily pauses the clock. However, unlike the US version, the remaining time after giving an answer for that question is void. Contestants who exceed the time limit on a given question without giving a "final answer" are forced to walk away with whatever winnings they have at that point.^{[citation needed]}

Payout Structure

Answering a question correctly is worth a specific cash prize at each level. Contestants who successfully answer questions on levels with bolded amounts in the table below are guaranteed to leave with no less than the cash award at that level should they incorrectly answer a later question.^[7]

Question number	Question value
1	¥10,000
2	¥20,000
3	¥30,000
4	¥50,000
5	¥100,000
6	¥150,000
7	¥250,000
8	¥500,000
9	¥750,000
10	¥1,000,000
11	¥1,500,000
12	¥2,500,000
13	¥5,000,000
14	¥7,500,000
15	¥10,000,000

Super Millionaire payout

Question number	December 23, 2007	March 27, 2008
1	¥10,000
2	¥100,000
3	¥250,000
4	¥500,000
5	¥1,000,000
6	¥2,500,000	¥1,500,000
7	¥5,000,000	¥2,500,000
8	¥10,000,000	¥5,000,000
9	¥15,000,000	¥7,500,000
10	¥20,000,000	¥10,000,000

Top prize winners

Civilians

Name	Transliteration	Date
國光恭幸	Yasuyuki Kunimitsu[8][9]	July 27, 2000
永田喜彰	Yoshiaki Nagata	August 10, 2000
今尾奈緒子	Naoko Imao	November 2, 2000
能勢一幸	Kazuyuki Nose	February 15, 2001
坂本ひとみ	Hitomi Sakamoto	December 13, 2001
菊地晃史	Akifumi Kikuchi	June 27, 2002
江口みち子	Michiko Eguchi	August 1, 2002
長田直美	Naomi Nagata	November 14, 2002
三島祥子	Shōko Mishima	May 8, 2003
田中ちよ and 田中一也	Chiyo and Kazuya Tanaka	June 24, 2004
菊池友久	Tomohisa Kikuchi	April 28, 2005
濱田敏彦	Toshihiko Hamada	May 26, 2005
野添潤子	Junko Nozoe	June 29, 2006
大井恵子	Keiko Ōi	July 27, 2006

Celebrities

Name	Transliteration	Date
馳浩	Hiroshi Hase	November 23, 2000
鈴木大地	Daichi Suzuki	September 18, 2003
新庄剛志	Tsuyoshi Shinjo[10]	January 2, 2004
堀江貴文	Takafumi Horie	December 30, 2004
細木数子	Kazuko Hosoki	December 30, 2004
堺正章	Masaaki Sakai	April 7, 2005
田中康夫	Yasuo Tanaka	April 7, 2005
柏木由紀子 and 大島花子	Yukiko Kashiwagi and Hanako Oshima	April 21, 2005
小泉孝太郎	Kotaro Koizumi	January 2, 2006
浅野ゆう子	Yūko Asano	March 23, 2006
為末大	Dai Tamesue	September 14, 2006
坂東三津五郎 (10代目)	Bandō Mitsugorō X	October 5, 2006
デヴィ・スカルノ	Dewi Sukarno[11]	October 26, 2006
紺野美沙子	Misako Konno	February 15, 2007
谷原章介	Shōsuke Tanihara	July 5, 2007
富司純子	Sumiko Fuji	March 27, 2008
徳光和夫	Kazuo Tokumitsu	March 27, 2008
ビートたけし	Takeshi Kitano	January 30, 2009
太田光	Hikari Ōta[12]	April 1, 2009
芦田愛菜	Mana Ashida[1]	January 2, 2013

Kids

Name	Transliteration	Date
小林宏太郎	Koutaro Kobayashi	September 6, 2001
南川克博	Katsuhiro Minamigawa	September 6, 2001
棚橋紗夕	Sayuu Tanabashi	September 4, 2003
片岡菜摘	Natsumi Kataoka	September 4, 2003
黄原暁	Jō Kihara	August 26, 2004
芦田愛菜	Mana Ashida	January 2, 2013

Merchandise

Several home versions have been released based on the show. The first of these was a board game released in 2001 by Takara Tomy,^[13] who later released another electronic version of the game.^[14] A version for the PlayStation game console was released on December 20, 2001,^[15] with an updated party version released for the same console in 2002.^[16] A book entitled "Complete cheats! Quiz $ Millionaire" (完全攻略! クイズ$ミリオネア, Kanzen kōryaku kuizu mirionea), was released by Fusosha on March 20, 2002.^[17]

In addition, Visiware and Sony Pictures Television have released an app based on the program's format for iOS and Android devices. Mino introduced the app during the special that aired on January 2, 2013. The app allows home viewers to play the game simultaneously, being asked the same questions featured on the show.^[1]