Shinjuku Milano Theatre
1-29-1 Kabukicho,
Shinjuku,
Tokyo
160-0021
1-29-1 Kabukicho,
Shinjuku,
Tokyo
160-0021
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: Milano-za-1 Shinjuku Milano
Nearby Theaters
Opened on 1st December 1956 on the first floor of the Tokyu Milano Building in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. The opening film was Walter Hampden in “The Vagabond King”. It became a twin screen theatre, and later a quad. It was closed on 31st December 2014.
The short scene during the Live-Action sequence with a panning shot of the inside of a movie theater was taken during a screening of “Evangelion: Death and Rebirth” in the now closed movie theater.
Contributed by
Jeffrey Piatt
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On December 1, 1956, two movie theaters opened on the site of the Shinjuku Tokyo Milano Entertainment Center on the same day. The Shinjuku Milano Theatre is located on the first floor of the Shinjuku Tokyo Milano Entertainment Center and the Shibuya Tokyu Bunka Kaikan is located on the basement section of the center.
The Milano opened with Walter Hampden in “The Vagabond King” with a capacity of 1,500 seats, while the Bunka Kaikan’s grand opening attraction was not known at this time with a capacity of 1,000 seats. Both theaters eventually became a twin (doesn’t mean it counts as a early twin, its just that both theaters opened at the same site that same day).
A third screen with 209 seats was added on the fourth floor of the same complex on November 30, 1971 under the name “Meigaza Milano” which was officially renamed “Cinema Milano” in September 1987, and a fourth screen with 224 seats was added on December 11, 1981 under the name “Cinema Tokyo Milano” located on the third floor.
Some notable films the Milano ran throughout the years include “The Ten Commandments”, “The Sting”, and “Jaws”, but it wasn’t until December 4, 1982 when “ET” hit the screens in Tokyo, and it officially became the biggest smash-hit throughout the Milano Theater’s history, running and stunting the movie for a year-and-a-half throughout the rest of 1982, all of 1983, and a good chunk of 1984.
During its final days of operation, Screen 1 has a capacity of 1,064 seats (the largest screen in Tokyo), while Screen 2 has 588 seats, Screen 3 having 209, and Screen 4 having 224.
On May 13, 2014, Tokyu Recreation announced that all directly managed offices in the main building (Shinjuku Milano + Cinema Square Tokyu 1-4, Shinjuku Milano Bowl, FamilyMart Seibu Shinjuku Ekimae store) will close for the final time. The reason for this is because of the decrease in the number of mobilizations due to the rise of cinema complexes and the aging of buildings.
A special celebration was held under the name “With Love From Shinjuku Milano” from December 20, 2014 until closure on December 31, 2014, screening a mixture of both Japanese and American classics including family films and films that previously ran at the theater.
Screens 3 and 4 closed for the final time on December 30, 2014 with the two-part Japanese “Neon Genesis Evangelion” theatrical film of Episodes 25 and 26 at Screen 3, and the 1974 Steve McQueen classic “The Towering Inferno” at Screen 4.
Screens 1 and 2 held on for one more day with the 1960 Steve McQueen classic “The Magnificent Seven” at Screen 1, and the 1982 classic that once topped the history of the Shinjuku Milano Theatre, “E.T.”, at Screen 2. The entire theater closed for the final time on December 31, 2014.
More information about all four auditoriums:
Screen 1, its main auditorium, appeared in several Japanese movies from the late-1990s until the early-2010s (including “Neon Genius Evangelion: Death and Rebirth” from July 1997). However, one of the films edited the scene out for unknown reasons, and that is “Foreign Affairs Police: Don’t Fall For That Man” from June 2012. Throughout time, its main auditorium was kept at the 1,000 to 1,500 seat range, beginning with 1,500 seats at opening, 1,348 seats by 1987, 1,288 seats by 2001, and 1,064 seats before its closure. There is also 70mm projection as well, with its screen measuring 8.85 x 20.2m.
For a short time in the early-1970s, Screen 2 screened foreign adult films for a time, but was dropped soon after for both foreign and Japanese films from Shibuya Tokyu. At the time of closure, the screen measures 4.85 x 11.4m.
During the early-1990s, Screen 3 was briefly named the American Comedy Theater featuring Looney Tunes characters being painted on the walls, screening first-run American films under the comedy genre. This lasted for around a decade. At the time of closure, the screen measures 2.7 x 6.35m.
The Cinema Tokyo Milano auditorium (Screen 4) was brought up the mini-theater legend Iwanami Hall, in which it was the first mini theater in Japan to have a roadshow format. The theater, under Tokyu Recreation, had a mark of changes in times though, which did put Japanese mini-theaters on a commercial basis and became the prototype for subsequent single-screen roadshow theaters. In 1981, Hara Masato, the founder of Herald Ace, and Toei’s film sales department, spearheaded a tour of European and American theaters. The tour was attended by exhibitors, media, and distributors from all over Japan, and this aim was to visit urban and suburban theaters that were beginning to appear in Europe and the United States at the time as well as witnessing the diversity of the various types of movie theaters. Tokyu Recreation Executive Director Horie Suzuo and General Manager Takeya Tadashi, who were searching for a new type of cinema, came up with the idea of a “casual cinema at Iwanami Hall” that was booming at the time, “somewhere between Iwanami Hall and a regular cinema”. During this European and American tour, they visited a small but relaxed mini-theater run by a married couple in France, and the idea of a “casual Iwanami Hall” was quickly realized. Shigeru Okada, who served as president of both Tokyu Recreation and Toei, had long had the idea of a “mini-theater system” and readily agreed to back up the plan. Okada was the one who brought up the name. Back in Japan, they introduced a new system in every aspect, including the seating, the admission method, and even the show’s format as a way to do business with a specific audience, and promoted the individuality of the theater itself. The renovation took place from an unused warehouse space, invested a total of 340 million yen which is close to $2,229,000 in United States money, ordered seating from France at 70,000 yen (or $471 via USD), and adding a prohibited standing room only for smoking, eating, and drinking. The selection of films is particularly important, as it determines not only the profitability but also the image of the theater. For this reason, Cinesque formed a group to select films, including film critics Toshiko Minami (honorary manager) and Motohiko Kono, who gathered their opinions and decided on the films. Original trailers and posters were used as a rule, and Hara, president of Herald Ace, was asked to cooperate with the general promotion. At the time of closure, the screen measures 2.8 x 6.6m.