[DAIJIRO SAMURAI TALK] Daijiro x Makoto Sasou: Surviving the Festival Warring States Period - 'Differentiation' as a Weapon and the Future of Entertainment

This article is a dialogue project hosted by Daijiro, the Executive Committee Chair of "SAMURAI SONIC," a new-generation music festival aiming to "redefine rock." As a rising force in the music industry, he invites prominent experts long active on the front lines, artists who color the festivals, and the staff who build the scenes, to delve deeply into untold episodes and industry trends.

The guest for this second installment is Makoto Sasou, a Producer at TOKYO MX who leads a diverse range of entertainment projects, from TV program production to large-scale events at the Tokyo Dome, and even an apparel business. We had a rich discussion about the forefront of the entertainment business, covering his overwhelming capacity for action cultivated from his unconventional background, his unique strategy of linking events with TV programs, and concrete ideas on how "SAMURAI SONIC" can survive the impending festival warring states period.

Photo of the dialogue between Sasou (left) and Daijiro (right)

An Overwhelming Workload of 100 Projects a Year and an Unconventional Career

Makoto Sasou (hereafter, Sasou): Just this month, a pure apparel business—not just live event merchandise—has started. It's a new challenge I've been preparing for about two years. For example (including things other than the apparel business), I feel like I'm doing about 100 projects a year.

Daijiro: Do you even sleep?

Sasou: I don't sleep (laughs).

Daijiro: In the entertainment industry, what is your lifestyle rhythm like? From what time do you work, and do you drink at night?

Sasou: I don't think there is a rhythm. Sometimes it goes until morning. There are on-site duties and meetings from the morning. There are no boundaries. Well, I think you couldn't do it unless you loved it.

Daijiro: From what age have you been in the entertainment industry? Looking at your profile, I can't imagine it at all...

Sasou: After graduating from university, I worked as university staff, then joined a printing company, and I've been at my current place (TOKYO MX) for just over 10 years.

Daijiro: How did you transition (from the printing company you originally worked at to TOKYO MX)?

Sasou: It was just from a point of thinking, "Maybe it's time to change jobs soon," and I happened to see a recruitment ad. What I did in university was industrial product design, and I also did some video-related work in graduate school. What I did at the printing company was act as a Creative Director—essentially the architectural planning of saying "we'll go with this kind of creative." There are designers who actually move their hands to do it.

Daijiro: It's amazing that you've reached the level of Bureau Chief now. My friends also work as ADs (Assistant Directors), and isn't the growth process, or the world itself, quite unique? Did your entry start from the field as an AD or something similar?

Sasou: I didn't do much field work. I joined mid-career, but I started with direction duties relatively quickly and then immediately moved into producing. Ultimately, you can't make a program or run an event all by yourself; it's entirely through external cooperation. It's a world of human relations, of networks. When it comes to putting on an event, casting performers, artists, and talents is important, but the staff is equally crucial. For example, for a certain event, you decide what kind of staff, operations team, and venue (box) to use—it's all casting. Then you build a team into a single form. The stage play I'm working on right now makes this very easy to understand, but it becomes much denser, even denser than live concerts.

Daijiro: That is a tremendous amount of passion...! Even for us, just having about 20 events a year like SAMURAI SONIC keeps our hands full. 100 projects is astonishing.

Sasou: That's why with the stage play I'm doing now, the actual performance runs for 10 days, and before that, there are 3 weeks of rehearsal, so it's about a month with the same members. And even before that, there are auditions and such...

Daijiro: Wow. Do you feel stress?

Sasou: (I) don't really feel it much, but well, I suppose this job is difficult for people who do feel it.

Daijiro: It means the on and off switches are extreme.

Sasou: If you aren't at a level where you don't care about being scolded or having bad things said to you, I think it's probably impossible. It happens on the inside at the work site, and there are things said by customers too. It's about not caring. You can't be talking about work-life balance. That doesn't apply. Unpleasant things happen every day.

A Work Style of 'Not Rejecting Things Before Trying' and the Path to Hosting at Tokyo Dome

Daijiro: Were you originally interested in entertainment?

Sasou: No, not at all. I don't have a favorite artist, nor a favorite talent. I just like making things. That's why even now, you couldn't do this much if it were just a hobby.