Money Tigers is the Japanese programme that inspired the format of Britain's Dragon's Den.
The Japanese title is Money no Tora, commonly translated into English as Money Tigers. It established the central premise of entrepreneurs presenting business proposals to wealthy investors who could question the plan, negotiate terms and decide whether to provide funding.
The British version adapted that premise for BBC audiences and used the “dragons” metaphor for its investors. Other countries developed related versions, including the United States programme Shark Tank, but Shark Tank is not the Japanese source of the British format. The shared structure can make the programmes easy to mix up.
The format's appeal comes from the tension between a founder's valuation and an investor's assessment of risk. A contestant may ask for a precise sum in exchange for equity, but the eventual proposal can differ sharply from the original request. Money Tigers supplied the international template that made this style of televised business negotiation recognisable.