Shaking the World's Emotions with Horror: Seitaro Tonka (Part 1)

"Meeting the People We Want to Meet!" Episode 10: Mariko Kasai from Dentsu Inc. Event & Space Design Bureau met with Seitaro Tonka of "Yami" Inc., an entertainment production company specializing in horror-tech (horror x technology) that has gained massive online attention. What is the reality behind "Yami" Inc., the mysterious collective producing one innovative horror project after another—the enfant terrible of the horror world?

Interview and Composition: Aki Kanahara, Dentsu Inc. Event & Space Design Bureau

 

 

What kind of things does "Horatech" (Horror × Technology) involve, for example?

Kasai: I saw the materials from your lecture at Kyoto Seika University online and thought I'd like to meet you.

Tonka: Well, giving lectures has its perks, huh? (laughs) I teach design at Kyoto Seika University.

Kasai: Could you tell me what kind of company Yami is?

Tonka: It's a company I started thinking about creating new experiences—what I call "horror-inspiration"—through horror and technology. It all began because I'm a huge horror fan. Our parent company specializes in technology, making websites and apps. Technology can fundamentally create magical experiences, and surprisingly, I couldn't find many companies dedicated to combining horror and technology. I thought if we focused on that, we could win first prize, so I launched the company on April Fools' Day (laughs).

 

Kasai: It all started with a company dare, right?

Tonka: That's right. I'd been pitching the company for ages: "Let's combine horror with technology and sell it!" But there was literally no one in the company who liked horror. It was like, "Who wants to do something so creepy? Let's sell dreams or something!" (laughs). I was totally out of place. I thought, "Maybe everyone just hasn't realized horror's appeal yet?" So when we had a company trip to Wakayama, I rounded up my subordinates, determined to change the upper management's mindset (laughs).

At that point, even combining tech with a standard ghost tour was tough, so I added puzzle-solving elements. It wasn't a walk rally, but I created a system where participants went to locations indicated on their smartphones, and then emails with instructions kept arriving one after another. They solved the mysteries step by step. I rushed to put together this horror event, and it was a huge hit.

I originally hoped we could run it as part of the main company's business. But that company handles stylish industries and children's businesses too. Mixing horror into that felt questionable. We decided it was better to clearly separate the expression styles, so we became a subsidiary. Before we knew it, we achieved independent profitability.

 

 

With an event made on a ¥50,000 budget and sheer passion, the president's heart was moved.

Kasai: By the way, how much did that ghost story event cost?

Tonka: No, it was cheap. Probably less than 50,000 yen. Though considering the labor costs, it's actually terrifying. We made all the employees involved work through the night (laughs), putting them through hellish conditions. I wonder what we'd do if they sued us for compensation. Basically, we just built the system and handled the email, website, and navigation app production.

Kasai: So you started the company with just 50,000 yen and sheer passion?

Tonka: That's right. By showing we were serious, the president started thinking about doing this seriously too. Honestly, the struggle wasn't really about getting the company started. I just thought it would be part of the business, so I never imagined I'd become president. That part is tough now, though.

Kasai: And work started coming in right from the day you launched, didn't it?

Tonka: That's right. It came within the first hour.

Kasai: What kind of advertising did you do?

Tonka: We created a website for "Yami" Inc., and the site itself had quite an impact. Coincidentally, a production company acquaintance of mine in Kansai had received a consultation about a haunted house. They saw the site we launched around that time and apparently thought, "If it's a company specializing in horror, they must be trustworthy."

 

Kasai: When you search for "Corporation," "Dark" shows up near the top, right?

Tonka: That's right. On Google, "dark" comes up as a recommendation when you search for "Kabushiki Kaisha," so we're grateful for that. But we're causing trouble for Kabushiki Kaishas nationwide (laughs). A lot of people stumble upon us, so we get a lot of complaints too.

Kasai: You get a lot of complaints?

Tonka: Yes. We get tons of prank calls, mostly from middle school boys (laughs). I guess it's like a dare. "Does this company really exist?" That sort of thing. Usually, they say, "Oh, it really does exist!" and then hang up abruptly (laughs).

Kasai: A prank call (laughs).

Tonka: Originally, we shared the same phone number as our parent company, but we got so many of those prank calls that we got a separate line (laughs).

 

For anything horror-related, leave it to "Darkness" Inc.

Tonka: We launched the company in April 2015. While it might be partly because the company's actual operations aren't easily understood, any job with a horror angle comes flying our way. People want us to create horror rooms in hotels, build horror websites, design horror escape rooms, and so on.

Like promoting hair removal sites with a horror twist. On the other hand, we run events, build websites, write stories—it requires such a wide range of skills. Since we have to cover everything under the horror umbrella, we're constantly learning.

 

Kasai: Does technology play a role in every project?

Tonka: Lately, we even get requests that aren't technology-related at all. Like writing the story for a horror event.

Kasai: So there aren't many competitors out there marketing horror that much, huh?

Tonka: I think there still aren't many. Maybe the horror industry is just small, but because of that, I get to meet quite a few people I admire. There's this haunted house producer named Hirofumi Gomi. I used to worship him like a god, and I got to meet him on my very first job. I was like, "Whoa, my dream came true at lightning speed!"

Kasai: The Umeda Haunted House, right?

 

J-Horror has a "pause" that draws out interaction and uses technology

Kasai: Seeing your various works, I felt a dedication to detail in the "darkness"—not the splatter-and-bang style common in American horror.

Tonka: Personally, I love Japanese horror. Of course, I enjoy Western horror films too, but I grew up with Japanese horror, J-Horror. J-Horror is a great fit for interaction and technology. It has that space and breathing room. There's so much technology can do for things requiring high levels of active participation, like slowly advancing or opening a door. That's why I think Japanese horror and technology are a great match.

Kasai: So you prefer it when, rather than things just coming at you, you take some action yourself—like "Don't come, don't come, don't come..." and then it does come after all.

 

Tonka: Exactly!

Kasai: What got you into horror in the first place?

Tonka: I've always loved amusement parks, but I grew up way out in the sticks. So, the only haunted houses I'd ever seen were the cheap kid stuff with old dolls lined up and gas bursting out at the exit.
When I came to Osaka and experienced a live-actor haunted house themed around "Biohazard" at a theme park called "Expoland," I ran out screaming with five or six classmates, almost crying. But after we got out, we all burst out laughing, and it became a really fun memory.
That's when I realized horror could be fun, and from then on, I started seeking out as many haunted houses as possible.
The emotional rollercoaster—the intense fear followed by immense relief—became addictively fun. But I'm basically a total scaredy-cat, so haunted houses still genuinely terrify me.

 

Create a "generator" that's usable and gets people talking

Kasai: The "All Applicants Hired" campaign we did for April Fools' this year was also fun.

 

Tonka: Since it was for April Fools', I thought, "Let's make a tool for telling lies." You know how companies often create fake websites for April Fools'? As a different approach, I thought, "Let's make a tool that lets people tell their own lies."
I figured if someone said they joined "Darkness" Inc., their friends would be shocked. I wanted to make a generator that could make people believe it, but we actually got quite a few real applications (laughs). We still get applications all the time, so it's gotten a bit complicated (laughs).

*Continued in Part 2