Tokyo scare squad offers drive-in horror shows amid COVID-19 fears

Kowagarasetai put on regular walk-in shows at theme parks before the pandemic

Last updated: July 03, 2020 | 19:14

Reuters and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Digital Content Editor

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A Japanese performance group is starting a run of drive-in horror shows for people who are scared of catching the coronavirus but still want to get close-up frights from ghouls and zombies.

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Audience members will drive into a garage in Tokyo, one car at a time, and listen to a murder story and sound effects blared out of speakers, as actors dressed as monsters bang on the side of the vehicle and spray fake blood over the windows.

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The performance group Kowagarasetai - which roughly translates as the "scare squad" - is hoping to frighten as many as 11 carloads of people a day at weekends in July and hopefully August, coordinator Kenta Iawana said.

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Each group will pay up to 9,000 yen ($84) for the experience, he added.

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Shows last for about 15 minutes until the shutter goes up and another group comes in, and customers without a car can borrow one.

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Kowagarasetai put on regular walk-in shows at theme parks before the pandemic.

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But bookings dried up as venues closed and people stayed home. They have tried socially-distanced shows, but performers had to stay two metres away so it was all a "bit boring" said Iawana.

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"The drive-in will let people experience our haunted house shows," he told Reuters. "We might continue them even after the coronavirus has gone."

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Japan has fared better than the worst-hit countries during the pandemic and the government last month declared an end to a health emergency that had closed bars, restaurants and other public spaces.

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But cases in Tokyo have risen over the past week, with the daily infection tally exceeding 100 on Thursday and Friday.

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