Let’s admit it, Japan has a pretty bizarre way of doing certain things. Case in point, it’s the first place in the world where you can marry yourself. So we’re not surprised that it’s taken an avant garde approach to training surgeons.

In Western Japan, Kurashiki Central Hospital worked with TBWA\Hakuhoda to create an ad that is part game show, part exam and part PSA. The brand and agency brought together a handful of students to participate in “Surgeon Tryouts” – a series of tests that involved creating origami cranes, building sushi and insects using tweezers and other small utensils. The cranes are made using the tiniest pieces of paper you’ve ever seen (we’re talking microscopic), the various sushi is put together on a single grain of rice, and the insects are put back together after their wings, legs and torsos (sorry to get morbid, folks) have been pulled apart.

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But, in heaven’s name, why would they put themselves through the torture of each tiny build (and risk going blind from squinting while trying to complete each task)? Well, in Japanese medical schools, the issue is there isn’t enough hands-on practice going on behind their academic walls. Every one is book smart, but actual surgical practice is lacking. The tryout points out the challenge the hospital faces when students graduate to the real life surgical floor, while also helping to test their perseverance (which, by the way, we’d fail at – we can barely stand watching the ad, let alone imagining being in it).

Via Adweek

Credits:

Advertiser: Kurashiki Central Hospital
Creative Agency: TBWA\Hakuhodo Japan
Production Company: Tyo Monster, dot by dot
Executive Creative Director: Kazoo Sato
Associate Creative Director: Takeshi Ogasahara
Art Director: Yuki Tokuno
Copywriter: Takeshi Ogasahara
Designer: Hyewon Choi
Creative Technologist: Masashi Matsukura
PR planner: Takahiro Miura
Director: Kazuma Kitada
Director of Photography: Yoshitaka Murakami
Editor: Yoshitaka Honda, Dai Haga
Production Company: Tyo Monster
Production Company Head Producer: Kentaro Kinoshita
Production Manager: Kanako Uchiyama, Takeshi Omori
Cameraman: Kazuki Ohata, Taisuke Kumagai
Assistant Cameraman: Kenta Saito
Lightman: Shinihi Miyaki, Yusuke Honda
Digital Imaging Technician: Shinya Nagao
Production Designer: enzo, Mitsuizumi
Stylist: Naoki Yamada
Web producer: Kenichi Seki
Web designer: Taichi Ito
Programmer: Koki Ibukuro