The Japanese television programme Money Tigers inspired the British show Dragon's Den.
Money Tigers, known in Japan as Money no Tora, established the central idea of entrepreneurs pitching for investment before a panel of wealthy businesspeople. The British version retained that basic structure while giving the investors the title “Dragons”.
The format travelled widely. Related versions include Canada's Dragons' Den and the United States programme Shark Tank, which uses a different investor nickname but shares the same broad international format lineage.
A common mix-up is to identify Shark Tank as the original. Shark Tank is an American adaptation associated with the same format family, but Money Tigers was the Japanese programme that originated the concept later adapted for Britain. Dragon's Den therefore belongs to a global television format rather than being an entirely standalone British invention.