Money Tigers is the Japanese television programme that inspired the British show Dragons' Den.
Money Tigers, known in Japan as Money no Tora, created the central format in which entrepreneurs sought investment from a panel of wealthy businesspeople. The British adaptation retained the essential idea while giving it a new title, a UK presenter and a panel of British investors.
The format spread internationally because its central conflict is easy to understand: an entrepreneur must explain a business quickly, justify its value and persuade investors to risk their own money. Different countries adopted local names and recruited their own business figures, but the pitch-and-negotiation structure remained recognisable.
Dragons' Den is therefore not an entirely original British invention, although its British version developed a distinct identity. The American series Shark Tank is another adaptation of the same broader format lineage, rather than the direct origin of the concept.