Ryuta Yamada heads the CIC Creative Direction Department. Centered on the desire to excite people through space, we have achieved outstanding results in the area of entertainment spaces. Yamada, who says, ``There are no borders when it comes to entertainment space concept design,'' talks about what he has always valued and what NOMURA can achieve.
Yamada belongs to the Creative Direction Department of the Content Integration Center (CIC) (*), which implements spatial implementation based on content. We oversee the entire creative field of space creation.
Yamada: ``The Creative Direction Department handles all types of spaces, but the moment a customer mentions the keyword ``entertainment,'' it's our turn.In recent years, we've been working a lot to implement character content such as manga and anime in spaces. I am working on it.
I position myself as an entertainment creative director, and while I leave concept design itself to the designers, my role is to direct the entire space from a bird's-eye view."
Yamada's specialty is creating production spaces that evoke a sense of excitement rather than stylish spaces. We have aimed to create an impression that goes beyond the imagination of visitors.
Yamada: ``In this day and age, many people have prior information about the spaces they visit through social media and other means.Therefore, if people who actually visit the space say, ``It was just as I imagined,'' it doesn't exceed their expectations.
For example, we make the characters that appear in the story actual size, and we enhance the production with lighting, sound, and moving gimmicks. We strive to create an experience full of emotion and surprise that can only come from visiting a space.”
Achievement and experience are the keys to realizing excitement. Yamada says that there are things that only NOMURA can do.
Yamada: `` NOMURA has a huge track record accumulated over its long history, and we have people with a wide range of experience and sensibilities.''We thought, ``You'll be surprised if we put in a device like this.'' ``If we could make this.'' When an idea or question arises, such as, ``I'm impressed, but how do I make it?'', our strength is that we always have people with experience and skills, such as designers and production managers, who are experts in that area.
I feel confident that I have many friends who can work with me to accomplish things that I would never be able to do alone.”
What Yamada always values is "experiencing" various spaces himself. As a visitor, I spare no time and effort in providing input from the field.
Yamada: ``I look at the reactions of the people in the room in real time, imagine how they feel, and sometimes even talk to them, and think about mechanisms and devices that will create surprise and excitement.A shortcut to creating a space. is about experiencing space.In order to keep my senses sharp, I spare no time in visiting real places.
I went to an exhibition the other day, and I was overwhelmed by the 90-meter-long work that was created using an iPad. At an exhibition, the items to be displayed are decided in advance, but the way they are displays can greatly change the way they look and the emotion that is created. I believe that by actually experiencing the space, we can find clues to creating excitement.”
*CIC (Content Integration Center: Imagination Implementation Group)uses our deep understanding of content as our starting point to transform exciting "fantasies" into new experiential value and "implement" them into all spaces and society. This is the creative team of NOMURA.
▲“Takehiko Inoue’s last manga exhibition”
Yamada spent his childhood overseas. He says that a visit to Disney World in Florida when he was 3 years old was the origin of his creation of spaces.
Yamada: ``I don't have a clear memory, but I do have vague memories of going to fun places.After returning to Japan, I invited friends to go to Tokyo Disneyland almost every week to relive those memories.'' Ta.
I was fascinated by the extraordinary atmosphere, and I would record the background music that played in the park and enjoy the atmosphere of being there even after I got home. Looking back, I think I may have been interested in creating entertainment spaces even back then."
Influenced by his father, Yamada aspired to become an engineer who would create robots for theme parks, and studied mechanical engineering at university. However, learning about ``spatial concept design'' in a general education class was a turning point. Wanting to pursue a career in creating theme parks themselves, he went to another university and majored in environmental design. The place I chose to work after being recommended by my supervisor was NOMURA.
After joining the company in 2002, the opportunity to realize the passion for entertainment spaces that I had cultivated up until then came along. At the end of his first year, Yamada was selected to be part of the production team for a haunted house attraction in Hokkaido.
Yamada: ``I was involved in the entire process, not only concept design the space, props, and monster shapes, but also creating the script for the lighting, BGM, dialogue, etc., and turning it into concrete form.
I remember being present at the facility's opening, seeing the children come out in fear and crying, and feeling a positive response. At that time, there were very few concept design projects for entertainment spaces, but I decided to get involved in creating spaces that entertained people."
Another turning point for Yamada was in 2008, his seventh year in the business, when he was in charge of `` Takehiko Inoue's Last Manga Exhibition''. Despite facing the difficulties of creating a space based on manga, a lot of dedication was put into creating a space that exceeded fans' expectations.
Yamada: ``In order to convert a two-dimensional manga world into a three-dimensional space, we need to carefully extract the elements from the story and incorporate them into the space one by one.
In ``The Last Manga Exhibition,'' the back wall of displays room is mirrored to give depth to the space, creating a dynamic sense of the long story, and displaying works on a folding screen wall. By doing this, I tried to express the rhythm of turning the pages. We have devised a way to synchronize the movement of reading manga with movement in displays space.
Additionally, in the scene where the main character in the manga looks back on his childhood, by painting the curved walls black and dimming the lights, we attempted to reflect the state of his mind when he looks at himself.
In the room that will be the highlight of the exhibition, Mr. Inoue's idea was to place the wooden sword that the main character drops from his hand in the manga in the actual displays space, but also raise one side of the sword so that it falls to the floor. I still remember the time when I was obsessed with the moment.”
▲“Jeddah Events Calendar 2023 -Anime Village at City Walk”
After that, Yamada continued to be active, taking on the role of overall direction for a haunted house in a Korean theme park in an international competition, which was well received. In 2014, I was involved in the "Attack on Titan Exhibition."
Yamada: ``In displays of original drawings, we illuminated the cruel scenes of humans being attacked by giants in red, and set the frames diagonally to express the dynamic feeling of battle.We generously incorporated the entertainment concept design that we have cultivated since joining the company.'' .
We also created an immersive opening theater because we wanted people who don't know the manga to feel the real fear of being attacked by a giant. In addition to sound and light, we also incorporate wind and movable mechanisms to create a performance where you can feel the presence of an attacking giant."
At that time, the manga "Attack on Titan" was at its peak of popularity. Although the project was fought under great pressure, the exhibition ended on a high note. The great response it received led to later overseas projects.
Yamada: “As a result of working on the Attack on Titan Exhibition, I also became involved in the Attack on Titan Exhibition FINAL, which expressed the worldview of the story afterward.Not only in Japan, but also in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, It is touring Taiwan, Indonesia, and South Korea.
The fact that it was well received by people all over the world who love Attack on Titan made it a very memorable and important project for me."
In 2022 and 2023, he provided creative direction for the entertainment event "Anime Village at City Walk" held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Yamada says that his success in the Middle East, which was previously an unknown world, gave him great confidence.
Yamada: “Even if we come from different countries, we all have the same desire to feel excited and excited.If we stick to the entertainment concept design that we believe in, it will appeal to people from different cultural backgrounds, just as I was fascinated by American theme parks when I was a child.” I was deeply moved because I could feel how happy they were.
I feel that the spatial implementation of content such as Japanese manga still has potential in regions other than Asia. Bringing smiles to people's faces across borders while being considerate of each person's cultural background is exactly what I want to do. When people smile, conflicts don't occur. It's also very rewarding in the sense of seeing how far the entertainment concept design skills I've cultivated up until now can be applied."
Yamada says that he would like to continue working on creating spaces that are exciting and exciting. Let me draw a picture of the future like this.
Yamada: “Entertainment concept design knows no borders in the sense that it can be communicated even if words are not understood.We will continue to deliver spaces where people can feel excitement and excitement without having to explain it to as many people as possible, both domestically and internationally. I want to come.
It would be great if I could be the kind of person that people say, ``There seems to be a person named Yamada in Japan who does entertainment concept design.''
2023 will be Yamada's 22nd year with the company. From the perspective of a veteran employee, I would like to talk about NOMURA 's appeal and possibilities as follows.
Yamada: “I heard that the founder of NOMURA, who was once in charge of stage props, surprised and moved the audience when he made a fake horse with a trick that made it cry. The desire to entertain and surprise people has always been passed down to our company.I believe that I have inherited this DNA as well.
And again, I think the appeal and potential of NOMURA lies in the fact that people with a wide range of knowledge can combine their collective efforts to create spaces that would never be possible on their own. That is also the reason why I continue to work at this company.”
In order to pass on NOMURA 's DNA to the next generation, Yamada will continue to do his best to create exciting spaces based on his unwavering desire to "entertain and surprise people." Masu.
*The contents are as of December 2023.
-space creation that excite people all over the world. - Since visiting Disney World in Florida as a child, he dreamed of creating an entertainment space, and joined NOMURA in 2002. Since then, he has been working on entertainment spaces mainly in Japan, and in recent years has expanded his field overseas, delivering exciting spaces to people around the world.
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