"THU Storytelling 2025" Hideo Kojima's Concerns Over the Disappearance of "Storytellers" [CINEMORE ACADEMY Vol.40]

The retreat* event "THU Storytelling" was held over four days from September 17th to 20th, 2025, in Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture. This event, which focused on "narrative" and "storytelling," offered cross-border learning and experiences, attracted approximately 300 participants from 44 countries. The SENSEI (lecturers) were top creators from around the world, including film directors, The Game creators, animators, and illustrators. Participants learned the secrets of creation from their favorite creators.

*Retreat: A retreat is a way of spending a few days away from the place you are used to living in, to heal your mind and body that have been fatigued by work or relationships. Unlike trips for sightseeing purposes, the purpose of a retreat is to forget about everyday life and refresh yourself. It is a new style of travel and training camp that is popular in Europe and the United States.

THU Storytelling 2025 | Kaga City, Japan

Following on from "THU JAPAN 2023" held two years ago, the CINEMORE editorial team experienced a retreat on-site. During the event, we conducted individual interviews with The Game creator Hideo Kojima, film directors George Miller and Tim Miller, art director Simon Lee, as well as THU founder Andre Lewis and ambassador Shuzo Shiota, among the many SENSEI participants. These interviews will be presented in serial form. The first instalment is with Hideo Kojima! We spoke to Kojima immediately after his passionate talk session with director George Miller, "Why We Tell A Story."

Index

• What is storytelling?
• First comes the worldview
• There were no textbooks on The Game development.
• "Storytellers" are becoming less and less present

What is storytelling?

Q: The theme this time is "storytelling." What was your first impression when you heard about it?

Kojima: That was surprising. I love movies and novels, so I place a lot of importance on storytelling, but young people today enjoy clipped versions of things on TikTok and YouTube. I was surprised that you chose to talk about "storytelling" in this day and age.

The Game today don't have a story. Whether it's a fighting The Game, racing The Game, or FPS shooter, in the end it's all about who's strong or fast. Of course, it's good as The Game, but that's not what I want. For example, in car racing, I want to know what kind of life the racer leads when they get home after getting out of the car, and what their story is. But The Game are interactive, so I'm not good at creating that kind of story. But that's what I want to do.

There is a cup of coffee sitting here right now, but even this cup of coffee has a story. When you think about it like that, it changes the way you see the world. By turning it into a story, you can delve into the depths of your memory. I think that kind of thinking is important.

Q: How do you view the role of "telling" in "storytelling"?

Kojima: When you tell people about a movie you've seen or a book you've read, the word "telling" comes into play. How you interpret and present the structure of the story will determine the impression you make of that story. It's not the story itself that's important, but how you present it, what you mention and what you don't, that technique. This is something that comes from the storyteller, not the structure of the story, such as an introduction, development, twist, and conclusion. It's the same as with a rakugo performer. The impression you get from the same event will change depending on how you tell it and how you present it. Those who have a grasp on that essence have the power, and that way of telling changes with the times.

Q: What does "storytelling" mean in The Game?

Kojima: In movies, you can manipulate the timeline and information is contained within the frame, but The Game contain an overwhelming amount of information. This makes it extremely difficult to immerse yourself in the story. For example, I used to call it the "parroting technique," and the only way to ensure that a player remembers a word they hear for the first time in The Game is to have them parrot it over and over again. In movies, the story just moves forward, but in The Game, all kinds of information is introduced, so this kind of parroting is necessary. This is where it differs completely from movies. "Storytelling" in The Game is extremely difficult, and there have not been many successful examples to date, so it is still not something that has been achieved.

First comes the worldview