Nippon TV created Money Tigers, the Japanese format adapted into Dragon's Den.
Nippon TV is the English name commonly used for Nippon Television Network Corporation, one of Japan's major commercial broadcasters. Its Money Tigers format established the central idea of entrepreneurs presenting business plans to wealthy investors.
The format was later licensed and adapted for broadcasters in other countries, including the British version launched in 2005. Local productions changed the panel, presenter, language and business setting while retaining the pitch-and-negotiation structure.
Nippon TV is distinct from NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, and from commercial networks such as Fuji TV and TV Asahi. Those networks are plausible alternatives because they are all major Japanese television names, but they did not create the format behind the British programme.