Japan's national rail operator has begun renting out train compartments for special events to diversify its operations.
The journey on Japan's famous bullet trains is usually uneventful and lasts two and a half hours. Today, however, it's quickly turning into a "zombie apocalypse," with passengers screaming in terror.
Organizers of the adrenaline-filled ride on Oct. 19, less than two weeks before Halloween, billed it as "the world's first ghost experience on a moving Shinkansen train."
Aboard one of the charter cars of the Shinkansen - the Japanese word for bullet train, after which the national train system is named - were about 40 thrill-seekers ready to brave the "living dead" between Tokyo and the western metropolis of Osaka.
The eerie experience was inspired by the 2016 hit 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 when the bullet train departed peacefully on Saturday evening, but it wasn't long before the first "bloody attack" occurred.
The victim-actors writhed in agony and then underwent a horrific transformation before going on a rampage against their passengers.
Event organizer Kenta Ivana of the group Kovagarasetai, which translates to "intimidation squad," said they wanted to "portray how the usually safe and calm shinkansen collapses in an instant."
This is far from the Central Japan Railway Company's first experiment with the dazzlingly clean and foolproof shinkansen. The Japanese institution turned 60 this year.
After long-distance travel plummeted during the Kovid-19 pandemic, the rail operator began renting out train compartments for special events to diversify its operations.
A sushi restaurant, a bar and even a wrestling match have been set up in high-speed trains, and the cars can also be reserved for private parties.
Marie Izumi of the rail operator's tourism arm told AFP she was surprised by the idea of a zombie-themed trip when Kovagarasetai approached her, thinking it would be "almost impossible to make happen".
But the event convinced her of the "new possibilities" of the bullet train, Izumi said. She thinks concerts and comedy shows could be suitable innovations in the future.
In the zombie apocalypse train, chainsaws and guns were used as props, but depictions of extreme violence and gory scenes that could damage Shinkansen's reputation were avoided.
In contrast to the muted horror, the two-and-a-half-hour tour was peppered with performances by zombie cheerleaders, magicians and comedians, including a dance choreographed to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
Many of the passengers on the zombie-infested train said the experience alone was worth the ticket price of up to 50,000 yen ($335).
"It was very absorbing," said Naohiko Nozawa, 30. "The appearance of so many different kinds of zombies kept me entertained the whole way," he added. | BGNES
