GeekWire | Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa signs on for reality-TV dating game with moon trip as the prize

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa tweeted a casting call for a woman to go on a round-the-moon trip with him, for a streaming-video documentary. (Yusaku Maezawa via Twitter)

What do you get when you cross "The Bachelor" with "Survivor," and then throw in a round-the-moon trip? You might get the reality-TV project that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has signed on for.

• The pitch made waves over the weekend when Maezawa, 44, tweeted a plea to "come to the moon with me." As in, apply to be a contestant for "Full Moon Lovers," which is billed as a "serious matchmaking documentary" for AbemaTV, a Japanese streaming-video channel. Applicants must be single women, aged 20 or older, with a bright, positive personality, an interest in space, and a desire for world peace.
• Maezawa's objective appears to be to find a companion to accompany him on SpaceX's Starship super-spaceship for a round-the-moon journey that's set for as early as 2023. He's paying SpaceX an undisclosed multimillion-dollar fare to reserve Starship for his use. When the deal was announced 16 months ago, Maezawa said he would take along artists and performers, but apparently he's now saving room for a love connection.
• Would-be contestants face an application deadline of Friday, Jan. 17, and the "final decision on partner" is due by the end of March. Maezawa's pitch has drawn plenty of ewws and WTFs (check out the comments on Gizmodo's story for a sampling), but you have to remember this is basically reality TV, which is not the same as reality. The concept is in line with the kookiness that surrounded boy-band singer Lance Bass' unsuccessful campaign to go into space in 2002, or Maezawa's million-dollar giveaways in 2019 and 2020.

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