Japan created the original television format that inspired the British series Dragons' Den.
The programme is based on the Japanese show Money Tigers, known in Japan as Money no Tora. Its central idea was a group of wealthy investors questioning entrepreneurs before deciding whether to offer business funding.
The British version kept the essential pitch-room structure but renamed the investors “dragons”. It was developed for the BBC and became one of the best-known international adaptations of the format. The concept was later adapted in many countries, including the United States as Shark Tank.
A common mix-up is to describe Shark Tank as the original. It is another adaptation, not the source format. The Japanese origin explains why versions in different countries share the same investor-and-entrepreneur setup while using different titles and panel members.