It is usually a serene two-and-a-half-hour ride on Japan’s famously efficient bullet train, but on Saturday, the journey quickly descended into a zombie apocalypse, with passengers screaming in terror.
Organizers of the adrenaline-filled trip, less than two weeks before Halloween, touted it as the world’s first haunted house experience on a running Shinkansen.
On board one chartered car of the Shinkansen, about 40 thrill-seekers were ready to brave an encounter with the living dead between Tokyo and the western metropolis of Osaka.
Photo: Reuters
The eerie experience was inspired by the hit 2016 South Korean action-horror movie Train to Busan, in which a father and daughter trapped on a moving train battle zombies hungry for human flesh.
All seemed normal at first as the bullet train made a peaceful departure on Saturday evening, but it was not long until the first gory attack.
The victims — actors planted in seats by the organizers — jerked in agony as they underwent a terrifying transformation before starting a rampage against their fellow passengers.
Photo: AFP
Event organizer Kenta Iwana of the group Kowagarasetai, which translates to the “scare squad,” said they wanted to “depict the normally safe, peaceful Shinkansen — something we take for granted — collapsing in the blink of an eye.”
Sitting next to one of the actors was Joshua Payne, one of many foreign tourists on board.
“I literally felt like I was in the film, just sitting here watching it take place in front of me,” the 31-year-old American said. “The fact that we can physically go from Tokyo to Osaka right now and have this whole performance at the same time... I think is really cool and maybe a little bit groundbreaking,” he said.
Photo: AFP
It was far from Central Japan Railway Co’s (JR Central) first experiment with the usually dazzlingly clean, accident-free Shinkansen, a Japanese institution that turned 60 this year.
After demand for long-distance travel plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, the railway operator started renting out bullet train compartments for special events to diversify its business.
A sushi restaurant, a bar and even a wrestling match have been hosted on the high-speed train, and carriages can also be reserved for private parties.
Photo: Reuters
Marie Izumi of JR Central’s tourism subsidiary said she was surprised by the idea for a zombie-themed commute when Kowagarasetai approached her, thinking it would be “almost impossible to pull off.”
The event has convinced her of “new possibilities” for the bullet train, Izumi said, adding that concerts and comedy shows might be a good fit.
On Saturday, toy chainsaws and guns were used as props, but depictions of extreme violence and gore that could tarnish the Shinkansen’s squeaky-clean reputation were avoided.
To counterbalance the subdued horror, the two-and-a-half-hour tour was peppered with light-hearted performances by zombie cheerleaders, magicians and comedians, including a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
“Nobody wants to sit tight for such a long time being constantly exposed to horror,” Kowagarasetai’s Ayaka Imaide said.
Many aboard the zombie-infested train said the experience alone was worth the ticket price of up to ¥50,000 (US$334.41).
“It was very immersive,” Naohiko Nozawa, 30, said. “And the appearance of so many different kinds of zombies kept me entertained all the way.”
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
CARGO PLANE VECTOR: Officials said they believe that attacks involving incendiary devices on planes was the work of Russia’s military intelligence agency the GRU Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England. Poland last month said that it had arrested four people suspected to be linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and was searching for two others. Lithuania’s prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene on Tuesday said that there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries, offering no elaboration. The events come as Western officials say
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered