Shaking the World's Emotions with Horror: Seitaro Tonka (Part 2)

"Going to Meet the People I Want to Meet!" Episode 10: Mariko Kasai from Dentsu Inc. Event & Space Design Bureau met with Seitaro Tonka of "Yami" Inc., a production company creating horror-tech (horror x technology) content that's garnering massive online attention. What is the reality behind "Yami" Inc., the mysterious collective producing one groundbreaking horror project after another—the enfant terrible of the horror world?

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

 

Expanding the new "concept of horror" through technology

Kasai: Horror tends to fall into certain patterns, and haunted houses are no exception. What do you focus on to break out of that rut?

Tonka: That's something I struggle with. Of course, there are various approaches, but I try to import ideas from concepts outside the horror genre itself—like thinking, "If you change your perspective, this could become horror" in other forms of entertainment. Next, I'm wondering if I can create horror-like content using manga expressions. I'm gradually expanding the boundaries of expression.

Kasai: How do you think horror will change in the future with technological shifts, like VR?

Tonka: For me, the core enjoyment of horror comes from the original experience of screaming and reacting together with others, rather than just experiencing it alone. While smartphones and current VR tend to be solitary experiences, I think technological evolution will dramatically expand what we can share. It'll be fascinating when experiences that used to require going to a haunted house can be easily enjoyed at home with friends, anywhere in the country.

Kasai: That would broaden how people enjoy it.

Tonka: Yeah. I do go to haunted houses alone or watch horror movies by myself, but it's just not as fun. I want someone next to me to scream with. Even for people who don't have many horror-loving friends around, I hope technology can solve that problem. That's where technology should be used going forward.

Kasai: Horror is associated with summer, but what's your work like in winter?

Tonka: Of course, I want to pioneer the winter horror genre! Or, if we don't create horror experiences that work year-round, even if we survive this year and next, the company will eventually die (laughs). I always feel we need to keep expanding the concept of horror.
Recently, we made a "Town VR Horror Car" at the NicoNico Chokaigi, and that was incredibly fun too.

 

Tonka: It's a VR experience you do wearing a headset inside a car. But you also have a SubPac—a subwoofer that transmits vibrations—strapped to your back. So you really feel like the car is moving and being attacked more and more. Plus, there's this analog system where people who've finished the experience can scare the next person by shaking the car. It's kinda silly that the customers themselves are scaring the next ones, but that created this sense of "we're all hyping this up together," which was really fun.

Kasai: Where can you experience that?

Tonka: As part of the NicoNico Town Meeting events. This summer, we're touring all over Japan. I feel like the haunted house culture hasn't seen much new evolution or innovation for a while. If we add inventive uses of technology to how horror is presented, we should be able to create all kinds of events that aren't just the traditional "haunted house" format.

 

A culture that enjoys the feeling of "fear," popularizing ways to enjoy horror

Tonka: I believe we need to spread the word about how to enjoy being scared. Fear does have a certain barrier to entry, but once you learn a few simple rules, anyone can enjoy it.

Watching a movie makes you cry your eyes out or laugh hysterically, right? It stirs your emotions. Being scared out of your mind is another way to experience that intense emotional response. There aren't many experiences that move your heart quite like fear does. But with fear, people tend to try to endure it, to tough it out. If you switch your mindset to actually enjoying that feeling, it can be incredibly moving.

Once you start finding joy in overcoming your fear, or in the emotional contrast of relief when it's over, absolutely anyone can enjoy it. I hope to provide that way of enjoying it. For example, one key to enjoying it is to let out your voice without holding back.

Kasai: Scream out loud.

Tonka: Exactly. If you're scared, just let out a genuine "Gyaaah!"—it's super fun.

Kasai: That's true. It's important to participate with the mindset of enjoying it.

Tonka: If you go reluctantly, it's no fun at all. But if you go with even a little enthusiasm, ready to let your voice out, it's super fun. That's why even when I go alone, I scream my head off while going through haunted houses (laughs). When it comes to horror, I want to create a culture where it's not embarrassing to cry out—a culture where you can let your emotions out.

Kasai: That might be really important. How much you hold back from screaming becomes this huge stress, especially for us girls, including myself. Screaming actually helps release that stress, right?

Tonka: With Japanese people, even at ghost-busting events, the goal often becomes not getting scared, right? It's the opposite. Let's enjoy getting scared (laughs).

Kasai: People say stuff like, "What are you scared of, you wimp?" It's so frustrating (laughs).

Tonka: Right now, I'm helping out with the Umeda Haunted House "Futago Rei" in Osaka, run by NTT West and MBS. One of their features is that it shows you a number for how scared you got. What they're actually measuring is how much fun you had. NTT West developed a complex formula to calculate this number. The more you scream and have fun, the higher your score. I think it's cool to have that kind of metric to measure enjoyment.

 

Art directing diverse variations of horror worldviews

Kasai: There was also a project we did at a hotel.

Tonka: We did it during Halloween season at the official hotel adjacent to USJ, "Hotel Universal Port." It was just one room in the hotel, the period wasn't very long, and we didn't do any web promotion at all, but I heard last year it booked up quite a bit.

 

Kasai: Like blood splattering all over the mirror, that sort of thing, right?

Tonka: I don't want to give too much away, but people suddenly appear on the screen (laughs). Guests get scared until around 2 a.m. We've embedded mirrors with displays inside the walls, and various effects happen on them.

Kasai: Are the guests mostly young couples?

Tonka: We basically rated it R15, so it's a room where those under 15 can't stay. We didn't want complaints. There's blood and wrists scattered about, you see (laughs). It seems to have gotten good survey ratings across quite a wide range of genres.

Kasai: You couldn't sleep, huh? Until 2 AM (laughs).

Tonka: Right, the visuals run until 2 AM (laughs). You'd be missing out if you slept. The room accommodates up to four people.

Kasai: So it's perfect for a lively group to go together.

Tonka: Exactly. It's like enjoying Halloween at USJ, then staying at the hotel to enjoy mystery-solving at night.

Kasai: By the way, what do you like besides horror?

Tonka: It's related to horror work, but I love theme parks—roller coasters and such. I'm interested in the art direction of the parks themselves. Like DisneySea, where they obsess over every detail, even the moss on the rocks. I love looking at that stuff; I could just stare at the rocks forever (laughs).
Right now, one downside of working in horror is that budgets are often tight. Every project becomes a battle over where to compromise and how far to push the details. Plus, schedules are tight—like needing to release by summer. If the budget were bigger, I'd want to obsess over the details even more.

Kasai: We need branding that lets the whole family enjoy horror.

 

Someday I want to create a major exhibition combining horror and technology.

Tonka: When it comes to horror events, people immediately try to reduce them to haunted houses, but there are so many other forms. I think it would be incredibly interesting to pour horror into the extension of everyday life.

Kasai: Like running a horror train from Hokkaido to Kyushu on the Shinkansen, or having horror tours on "Hato Bus" tours. Sounds fun, right? We could all scream together (laughs).

Tonka: If you use technology to make it a proper event, you can achieve strong repeatability and interactivity. Actually, haunted houses have more female attendees. If you go to USJ's horror event, you'll be surprised—it's full of girls. I think the fact that women can scream for real contributes to their enjoyment and satisfaction.

There's a lot of interesting tech out there too. One I've been into lately is SubPac, which I mentioned earlier. It's a tactile bass system you feel on your back. It cleverly uses those deep bass thumps resonating through your body to make it feel like someone is literally pushing you hard from behind.

Kasai: So it's like getting hit?

Tonka: Exactly. It's like carrying a massive subwoofer speaker on your back. By using it effectively, you can create sensations like the feeling of a car accelerating or the pounding of your own heartbeat. I also collect quite a few other useful gadgets.

Kasai: All kinds of horror-oriented devices, from analog to digital. I'd love to learn the know-how behind that. You really put in a lot of effort, huh.

Tonka: I collect them because I love it. Also, directional speakers are great. They let you produce sounds you rarely experience elsewhere.

Kasai: Directional speakers, like when I walk, the sound follows me, right?

Tonka: Yes. You can make them target extremely precisely, so it's like hearing a voice near your ear even when no one's there. Aim it at a wall, and it's like someone's talking to you through the wall's reflection. If you add a Kinect-like sensor, it could even automatically track your face.

Kasai: Horror proposals or horror wedding MCs sound interesting too.

Tonka: That's great (laughs). I really hope that kind of culture becomes popular.

Kasai: That sounds incredibly fun! Like "Horror × Love."

Tonka: If you make it "Horror × [something]," you can throw all sorts of things into it. I want to expand the menu of how we use the feeling of fear. From my perspective, horror felt like a seat in entertainment that was just sitting there empty. Like, "Huh? It's free?" That feeling of "This spot is mine!"
Of course, I don't deny the brilliance of horror pioneers at all. But when it comes to combining it with technology, I think we have an advantage too.

Kasai: Please let us collaborate on creating an event together! I learned so much today. Thank you very much.

 

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