TOHO Cinemas Umeda

First known as the “Kitano-Umeda Scala Theater”, it was once the largest movie theater in Osaka. The Kitano-Umeda Scala Theater was located on the 8th floor of the Hankyu Entertainment Park Navio and opened its doors as a 2,873-seat triplex (beating out the former leading-capacity Minamigai Theater) on October 24, 1980 with “Raise The Titanic” at Screen 1 (1,016 seats under the auditorium name “Kitano Theater”), the Japanese theatrical release of NBC’s television premiere of “Shogun” at Screen 2 (920 seats under the auditorium name “Umeda Theater”), and “Urban Cowboy” at Screen 3 (937 seats under the auditorium name “Umeda Scala Theater”).

On October 23, 1998, two screens (named “Naviosine 4” and “Naviosine 5)” were added on the 7th floor. Eventually, the auditoriums were collectively named “Naviocineplex” which eventually became the theater’s name.

On November 23, 2002, it was renamed “Navio TOHO Plex” after two more screens were added. The two screens were eventually divided from both the Umeda and Umeda Scala screens. Throughout time, the capacities of the three main auditoriums were downgraded.

The theater was renamed “TOHO Cinemas Umeda” on October 1, 2007. Two years later in 2009, 3-D equipment was installed just in time for “Avatar”. At the time, all screens became digital.

As of 2023, the TOHO Cinemas Umeda had a total of 2,270 seats in 8 screens. Screen 1 (former Kitano Theater) was the largest with 733 (formerly 1,016 and 747) seats including four wheelchairs and featured TCX and Dolby Atmos that was installed on December 5, 2015 (which was the main reason why its capacity downgraded from 747 to 733). Screens 2 (former Umeda) and 3 (former Umeda Scala) had three wheelchairs with a 470-475 seating capacity. The other theaters range their capacity from 96 to 152 with two wheelchairs (except Screen 6 where it had only one wheelchair).

As of August 2023, Screen 1 became the largest operating auditorium with the most seats as an existing movie theater in all of Japan.

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