Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda directs HBO Folklore episode inspired by her own spooky encounter with a ghostly fan
- Every time Seiko Matsuda picked up the microphone to perform, her assistant could see a phantom fan in the audience, and she ‘could not forget that story’
- After Matsuda recounted her experience with filmmaker Eric Khoo, he asked her to direct an episode of the second series of HBO Asia horror series Folklore
Soon after coming offstage from one of her sell-out concerts, Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda’s personal assistant pulled her aside and said she had a confession to make. The assistant had the ability to see ghosts – and she could see that, every time Matsuda picked up the microphone to perform, a phantom fan was in the audience.
“She told me that she could see the same ghost-person at every one of my concerts,” Matsuda, tells the South China Morning Post. “I didn’t know if it was true because I don’t have the power to see that, but what she said to me grabbed my heart. She said that she could see the same person at every concert. Why the ghost was there, I don’t know, but I could not forget that story.”
It became the genesis for her pivot from pop to directing the second episode in the series, a haunting yet touching tale titled The Day the Wind Blew.