In the past few years Japanese horror and Japanese influenced horror has really taken hold in America. I have done many press events for DVD releases of Japanese horror films and a few American remakes of them. Much of their success in America can be attributed to the success of The Ring. While the focus of that attention has mostly been given to Hideo Nakata who directed the Japanese versions of The Ring and Dark Water, one must not forget that both of those stories were originally published as novels and their author is Koji Suzuki.
While Suzuki has appreciated the way The Ring has spawned multiple sequels he always considered his novels Spiral and Loop the real sequels. Now for the first time Vertical Press is releasing Loop in America. I got a chance to talk to Suzuki through a translator from Japan.
Check out Vertical Press website for the books of Koji Suzuki
Daniel Robert Epstein: Have you seen the American version of Dark Water yet?
Koji Suzuki: Not yet.
DRE: Did you have any contact with the production?
KS: Yes, I was involved in it from the beginning. From the script stage I was there. I was on the set talking to the director [Walter Salles] and the actors. Im very much in touch with them.
DRE: From what I understand, the director may not be happy with the final film. Can you comment on that?
KS: I havent heard anything of that sort but people I know who have seen it say that its very good. I am very much looking forward to seeing the film.
DRE: How do you feel that Dark Water and The Ring compliment one another?
KS: I dont feel that those two works are complimentary because Samara [the girl in The Ring] in my view isnt an evil character. In fact she is a tragic figure but in the film versions she is shown in a more sort of demonic light, perhaps too demonic and maybe the movie emphasized that point too much.
DRE: The Ring series has made you very wealthy, but do the films feel as personal to you?
KS: I feel a bond with the films that became most clear at the LA premiere of the first American Ring film. At the end when the credits started rolling, I saw my own name based on a novel by Koji Suzuki and I was mightily moved. I ended up staying in the seat for a long while and I was fascinated by my reaction of feeling so moved. That is when I felt the strongest connection.
DRE: What do your daughters think of the scary little girls you have created?
KS: My two daughters are 19 and 15 years old and children of that age all know Samara. My daughters became famous at school for being the daughters of the guy who wrote The Ring. Samara is pretty much a synonym for ghost for that age group and she has sort of acquired a life of her own. But basically my daughters are half annoyed by all of it but theyre kind of amused by the attention they get.
DRE: It was very amusing for me to read that you also write how to raise children books that seems a little frightening, how did that happen?
KS: Its actually very coherent that I wrote these how to raise children books. My wife was a school teacher while I writing The Ring. Since I worked at home I had a freer schedule so I helped out a lot with raising the kids and the experience taught me a lot.
DRE: Did you talk to Hideo Nakata when he was going to make the American Ring sequel?
KS: Yes and I read the script and I was also on the set of that film. I talked to Nakata and also talked to Naomi Watts whom I had met earlier for The Ring.
DRE: There have been many Japanese Ring sequels but do the sequels not connected with your work resonate with you?
KS: The true sequel to Ring is my own work, Spiral.
DRE: Loop is coming out in America soon. From what I read, it seems that you are ending the series. What made you decide to do that?
KS: As far as I was concerned, The Ring was not a horror novel. I never read that many horror novels. I prefer to read French and American literature. What I was trying to do was write an interesting novel. I got a central idea and thought, okay now I can write a kick-ass novel. I was surprised when other people said, Hey thats a horror novel. I consider myself to be a scientific person who does not believe in the occult, so I actually did not like the fact that there was an irrational event in the novel, like people watching a videotape and dying so I set out to solve the contradictions in the story and thats how I ended up writing Spiral and Loop. Then Loop actually ends up with a bright future, the opposite of horror. Loop is the novel in the trilogy thats closest to my heart because of that. So since Spiral and Loop progressively cure the irrationality that crops up in The Ring I felt there was nothing to add after Loop. Of course I could have done this in a very different way and just kept writing Ring books and if I had done that I would be writing Ring volume 17 now. But I prefer to drive myself to harder things.
DRE: What fascinates you about a virus that spreads?
KS: The root of that interest comes from my interest in DNA, biology and general medicine. When I was in college I was a French lit major but I also spent a lot of time studying the philosophy of science. Philosophy is nothing if it isnt aimed at elucidating the structure of the world or society or of man. That way, science is an indispensable part of philosophy and I have felt this way since I was a student. I was particularly interested in humans so molecular biology naturally began to interest me, then DNA, the double helix and from there onto virus and the definition of life itself.
DRE: How did Vertical Press come to be publishing your work?
KS: My Japanese publisher found them. But if I had known of them in the first place I would have gone with them [laughs].
DRE: I read that another story you wrote, Adrift, was optioned by Dimension Films?
KS: Yes and Ive met with the producers and I read the synopsis for the film two or three months ago and made suggestions. Thats where its at now. Next will be the screenplay and Im involved with that too.
DRE: Do you have any desire to write screenplays?
KS: If Ring 3 was to be made in the US I would love to write the screenplay for that. Ring Two diverged from the original story but since Spiral is the real sequel I would want it to have elements of that in it. I would like a movie sequel thats not just a repetition of previous works. I would love to show that a movie sequel could actually be a very good movie.
DRE: With the American Ring 2 some strange things happened on the set, like at one point one room flooded and a person that was working on the movie got attacked by a deer, two things which are big parts of the American Ring 2 movie. Has anything strange happened in your life that was similar to the things happening in your works?
KS: I didnt have such weird experiences while I was writing. But Dark Water actually came from an actual incident in my office. It flooded over once because of a burst water valve and I woke up at three in the morning. I stepped off my bed onto this soggy carpet. It wasnt so much scary as yucky, but this yucky feeling remained with me and was one of the inspirations for writing Dark Water
DRE: I read about a new book called Edge City, what is that exactly?
KS: Edge City is actually a full length novel that I am writing right now and it explores completely new territory. I dont mind if it has the horror branding but I think of it more as quantum mechanics horror.
DRE: Whats quantum mechanics horror?
KS: Its not the quantum mechanics of horror but quantum mechanics horror. Most people have this recognition of feeling that the world is a secure place, of the ground under you and that you exist standing on it. But once you go to a quantum level, as if you had a quantum magnifying glass, you would feel that things are appearing and disappearing all of the time, existence is insecure and that its almost like grotesque world where things are coming into being and disappearing almost at the same time. Lets say were crossing a bridge. This imparts a feeling that the bridge that you are crossing just happened not to collapse but could have collapsed to give the appearance that the world might disintegrate at any time. I want to get that quantum mechanical level of perception to the reader.
DRE: What is your daily writing process?
KS: When I am writing, my typical schedule is that at nine in the morning I am editing or looking over the pages that I wrote from the previous day. Then I do a mental warm-up and around noon I go to my office, check faxes, emails and I start writing at around 3 pm and go until around 7:30 pm. Then I come home, have a drink or two, enjoy the company of my family and then I go to sleep.
DRE: After Edge City, whats the next thing youre working on?
KS: I have two ideas for two novels. The first one will involve the concept of escaping from a difficult situation. Whenever you try to circle the globe all alone in your yacht you are going to run into patches of the sea where the waves are choppy and dangerous and in this novel, the guy who is all alone on his yacht has entered a dangerous patch of sea. So he climbs the mast of his yacht to fix it and suddenly finds himself unable to move from up on the mast. It will be a thrilling story of how this guy gets down from the mast and survives his journey. The second book is about three young Japanese men, an actor, a boxer and a painter who have dreams of success. They come to Los Angeles to make their dreams come true. Since I am a fan of sports I am going to cast the spotlight on the boxer. I am also learning to box and talking to a boxer friend to understand their psychology.
DRE: Do you still ride motorcycles?
KS: I do still ride my motorbike and I love vehicles of all sorts. The bike I have now is a 600 cc Yamaha but I also have a boat, a yacht and now I have acquired a plane and my pilots license. Im a big fan of anything that moves.
DRE: Whats the name of your boat?
KS: My boat is called Moppy and thats my nickname for my wife. The yacht is called Mika and that comes from taking the first letters of each of my daughters names
DRE: What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
KS: I was out in the Pacific on my yacht and a typhoon changed direction and started coming my way and I got caught in it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
While Suzuki has appreciated the way The Ring has spawned multiple sequels he always considered his novels Spiral and Loop the real sequels. Now for the first time Vertical Press is releasing Loop in America. I got a chance to talk to Suzuki through a translator from Japan.
Check out Vertical Press website for the books of Koji Suzuki
Daniel Robert Epstein: Have you seen the American version of Dark Water yet?
Koji Suzuki: Not yet.
DRE: Did you have any contact with the production?
KS: Yes, I was involved in it from the beginning. From the script stage I was there. I was on the set talking to the director [Walter Salles] and the actors. Im very much in touch with them.
DRE: From what I understand, the director may not be happy with the final film. Can you comment on that?
KS: I havent heard anything of that sort but people I know who have seen it say that its very good. I am very much looking forward to seeing the film.
DRE: How do you feel that Dark Water and The Ring compliment one another?
KS: I dont feel that those two works are complimentary because Samara [the girl in The Ring] in my view isnt an evil character. In fact she is a tragic figure but in the film versions she is shown in a more sort of demonic light, perhaps too demonic and maybe the movie emphasized that point too much.
DRE: The Ring series has made you very wealthy, but do the films feel as personal to you?
KS: I feel a bond with the films that became most clear at the LA premiere of the first American Ring film. At the end when the credits started rolling, I saw my own name based on a novel by Koji Suzuki and I was mightily moved. I ended up staying in the seat for a long while and I was fascinated by my reaction of feeling so moved. That is when I felt the strongest connection.
DRE: What do your daughters think of the scary little girls you have created?
KS: My two daughters are 19 and 15 years old and children of that age all know Samara. My daughters became famous at school for being the daughters of the guy who wrote The Ring. Samara is pretty much a synonym for ghost for that age group and she has sort of acquired a life of her own. But basically my daughters are half annoyed by all of it but theyre kind of amused by the attention they get.
DRE: It was very amusing for me to read that you also write how to raise children books that seems a little frightening, how did that happen?
KS: Its actually very coherent that I wrote these how to raise children books. My wife was a school teacher while I writing The Ring. Since I worked at home I had a freer schedule so I helped out a lot with raising the kids and the experience taught me a lot.
DRE: Did you talk to Hideo Nakata when he was going to make the American Ring sequel?
KS: Yes and I read the script and I was also on the set of that film. I talked to Nakata and also talked to Naomi Watts whom I had met earlier for The Ring.
DRE: There have been many Japanese Ring sequels but do the sequels not connected with your work resonate with you?
KS: The true sequel to Ring is my own work, Spiral.
DRE: Loop is coming out in America soon. From what I read, it seems that you are ending the series. What made you decide to do that?
KS: As far as I was concerned, The Ring was not a horror novel. I never read that many horror novels. I prefer to read French and American literature. What I was trying to do was write an interesting novel. I got a central idea and thought, okay now I can write a kick-ass novel. I was surprised when other people said, Hey thats a horror novel. I consider myself to be a scientific person who does not believe in the occult, so I actually did not like the fact that there was an irrational event in the novel, like people watching a videotape and dying so I set out to solve the contradictions in the story and thats how I ended up writing Spiral and Loop. Then Loop actually ends up with a bright future, the opposite of horror. Loop is the novel in the trilogy thats closest to my heart because of that. So since Spiral and Loop progressively cure the irrationality that crops up in The Ring I felt there was nothing to add after Loop. Of course I could have done this in a very different way and just kept writing Ring books and if I had done that I would be writing Ring volume 17 now. But I prefer to drive myself to harder things.
DRE: What fascinates you about a virus that spreads?
KS: The root of that interest comes from my interest in DNA, biology and general medicine. When I was in college I was a French lit major but I also spent a lot of time studying the philosophy of science. Philosophy is nothing if it isnt aimed at elucidating the structure of the world or society or of man. That way, science is an indispensable part of philosophy and I have felt this way since I was a student. I was particularly interested in humans so molecular biology naturally began to interest me, then DNA, the double helix and from there onto virus and the definition of life itself.
DRE: How did Vertical Press come to be publishing your work?
KS: My Japanese publisher found them. But if I had known of them in the first place I would have gone with them [laughs].
DRE: I read that another story you wrote, Adrift, was optioned by Dimension Films?
KS: Yes and Ive met with the producers and I read the synopsis for the film two or three months ago and made suggestions. Thats where its at now. Next will be the screenplay and Im involved with that too.
DRE: Do you have any desire to write screenplays?
KS: If Ring 3 was to be made in the US I would love to write the screenplay for that. Ring Two diverged from the original story but since Spiral is the real sequel I would want it to have elements of that in it. I would like a movie sequel thats not just a repetition of previous works. I would love to show that a movie sequel could actually be a very good movie.
DRE: With the American Ring 2 some strange things happened on the set, like at one point one room flooded and a person that was working on the movie got attacked by a deer, two things which are big parts of the American Ring 2 movie. Has anything strange happened in your life that was similar to the things happening in your works?
KS: I didnt have such weird experiences while I was writing. But Dark Water actually came from an actual incident in my office. It flooded over once because of a burst water valve and I woke up at three in the morning. I stepped off my bed onto this soggy carpet. It wasnt so much scary as yucky, but this yucky feeling remained with me and was one of the inspirations for writing Dark Water
DRE: I read about a new book called Edge City, what is that exactly?
KS: Edge City is actually a full length novel that I am writing right now and it explores completely new territory. I dont mind if it has the horror branding but I think of it more as quantum mechanics horror.
DRE: Whats quantum mechanics horror?
KS: Its not the quantum mechanics of horror but quantum mechanics horror. Most people have this recognition of feeling that the world is a secure place, of the ground under you and that you exist standing on it. But once you go to a quantum level, as if you had a quantum magnifying glass, you would feel that things are appearing and disappearing all of the time, existence is insecure and that its almost like grotesque world where things are coming into being and disappearing almost at the same time. Lets say were crossing a bridge. This imparts a feeling that the bridge that you are crossing just happened not to collapse but could have collapsed to give the appearance that the world might disintegrate at any time. I want to get that quantum mechanical level of perception to the reader.
DRE: What is your daily writing process?
KS: When I am writing, my typical schedule is that at nine in the morning I am editing or looking over the pages that I wrote from the previous day. Then I do a mental warm-up and around noon I go to my office, check faxes, emails and I start writing at around 3 pm and go until around 7:30 pm. Then I come home, have a drink or two, enjoy the company of my family and then I go to sleep.
DRE: After Edge City, whats the next thing youre working on?
KS: I have two ideas for two novels. The first one will involve the concept of escaping from a difficult situation. Whenever you try to circle the globe all alone in your yacht you are going to run into patches of the sea where the waves are choppy and dangerous and in this novel, the guy who is all alone on his yacht has entered a dangerous patch of sea. So he climbs the mast of his yacht to fix it and suddenly finds himself unable to move from up on the mast. It will be a thrilling story of how this guy gets down from the mast and survives his journey. The second book is about three young Japanese men, an actor, a boxer and a painter who have dreams of success. They come to Los Angeles to make their dreams come true. Since I am a fan of sports I am going to cast the spotlight on the boxer. I am also learning to box and talking to a boxer friend to understand their psychology.
DRE: Do you still ride motorcycles?
KS: I do still ride my motorbike and I love vehicles of all sorts. The bike I have now is a 600 cc Yamaha but I also have a boat, a yacht and now I have acquired a plane and my pilots license. Im a big fan of anything that moves.
DRE: Whats the name of your boat?
KS: My boat is called Moppy and thats my nickname for my wife. The yacht is called Mika and that comes from taking the first letters of each of my daughters names
DRE: What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
KS: I was out in the Pacific on my yacht and a typhoon changed direction and started coming my way and I got caught in it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
Thank you for such a informative interview x
Mantix said:
This was a great interview.
All interviews by Epstein are great.