It’s usually a quiet two-and-a-half-hour journey on Japan’s famously efficient bullet train. But the journey soon turns into a zombie apocalypse, and the passengers begin screaming in terror.
Less than two weeks before Halloween, organizers of Saturday’s adrenaline-packed tour billed it as “the world’s first haunted house experience on a moving Shinkansen.”
A chartered car of the Shinkansen – the Japanese word for bullet train – was carrying about 40 thrill-seeking riders, ready for an encounter with the living dead between Tokyo and the western metropolis of Osaka.
Photo courtesy: AFP
This terrifying experience was inspired by the hit 2016 South Korean action-horror film “Train to Busan,” in which a father and daughter trapped on a moving train fight zombies hungry for human flesh.
At first everything seemed normal as the bullet train departed peacefully on Saturday evening, but it was not long before the first horrific attack took place.
The victims – actors placed in seats by organizers – writhed in agony and then underwent a terrifying transformation before launching into violence against their fellow passengers.
Photo courtesy: AFP
Kenta Iwana of Kovagarasetai, the organizing group for the event, which translates to “scare squad”, said they wanted to depict “the normally safe, peaceful Shinkansen – which we take for granted – collapsing in the blink of an eye”. .
‘As I was in the movie’
Sitting next to one of the actors was Joshua Payne, one of the many foreign tourists on the ship.
“I literally felt like I was in the movie, just sitting here watching it unfold in front of me,” the 31-year-old American told AFP.
He said, “The fact that we can just physically go from Tokyo to Osaka and do this whole show at the same time… I think it’s really cool and maybe a little bit unprecedented.”
It was far from Central Japan Railway Co.’s first experiment with the typically sparkling-clean, accident-free Japanese institution called Shinkansen, which turns 60 this year.
Photo courtesy: AFP
After demand for long-distance travel declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, the railway operator started renting out bullet train coaches for special events to diversify its business.
The high-speed train has a sushi restaurant, a bar, and even hosted a wrestling match, and carriages can also be reserved for private parties.
Marie Izumi of JR Central’s tourism subsidiary told AFP that when Kowagarasetai approached her she was surprised by the idea of a zombie-themed tour, thinking it would be “almost impossible to do”.
But the event has convinced him of “new possibilities” for Bullet Train, Izumi said, adding that concerts and comedy shows may be suitable in the future.
thriller
On Saturday, toy chainsaws and guns were used as props, but avoided depictions of excessive violence and gore that could tarnish Shinkansen’s clean reputation.
Photo courtesy: AFP
To balance out the subdued horror, the two-and-a-half-hour tour was filled with light-hearted performances from zombie cheerleaders, magicians and comedians, including a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
“Nobody wants to be constantly exposed to fear for so long,” said Ayaka Imide of Kovagarasetai.
Several people who rode the zombie-infested train said tickets cost up to 50,000 yen ($335) for the experience alone.
“It was very thrilling,” Naohiko Nozawa, 30, told AFP. “And the presence of so many different types of zombies kept me entertained the whole way through.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
