
Moovil
22 Minamisaiwai,
Nishi-ku,
Yokohama
220-0005
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Additional Info
Functions: Movies (First Run), Movies (Foreign), Special Events
Previous Names: Sotetsu Moovil
Nearby Theaters
The Sotetsu Real Estate opened the first two predecessor theaters known as the Sotetsu Theaters 1 & 2 on April 2, 1956 as a Shochiku/Toho/Masterpiece house, and a third theater named Theater 3 opened on September 19, 1958 as a Daiei/Toho/Shochiku/Nikkatsu house. The third screen closed on September 30, 1969 and the other two screens remain operating until its closure on March 5, 1971. Separately from this, the Real Estate also opened three other movie theaters at the Sotetsu Cultural Hall which is now part of the Sotetsu Joinus site near the Yokohama Station West Exit Post Office on September 21, 1957. Known as the Hall 1st Theater, the Underground Theater, and the Sotetsu Engeo Hall as a collaboration of a Shochiku/Toho/Masterpiece/Nikkatsu/Toei/ATG house, and both theaters also closed on March 5, 1971.
The Sotetsu Cinema Building, or the Sotetsu Moovil, now located at the site of the Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers, opened its doors on March 5, 1971 and was originally located on the north side of the Sagami Railway Headquarters consolidating the two theaters that were separated into two locations. Throughout the rest of the decade, the building expanded to five theaters all under each category of operation. There is the Sotetsu Movie Theater (Toho foreign), the Sotetsu Cultural Theater (Shochiku and Tokyu), Sotetsu Toho Theater (Toho Japanese), Sotetsu Toei Theater (later Sotetsu International Theater, Toho foreign), and the Sotetsu Masterpiece Theater (later Sotetsu Central Theater; started life as Toei and last operated as Shochiku Japanese).
All of these theaters closed on November 7, 1988 when all five theaters are relocated to the second theater located as part of the Yokohama Station West Exit redevelopment project. During the project, it was decided to build the Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers on site of the former Sotetsu Cinema Building.
Five days later on November 12, 1988, the Moovil reopened in its current location at the Sotetsu Moo Building as the Sotetsu Moovil 1-5. Also with that move, a separate sixth theater called the Sotetsu Honda Theater, a small 184-seat theater on the third floor operated by the Honda Theater Group which also housed a live music venue, a jazz bar, and the headquarters of the Real Estate Agency, now known as Yokohama Media Ad. The Honda Theater opened in December 1988 and closed on November 30, 2014.
Unfortunately due to the rise of the multiplexes around Yokohama, including the Warner Mycal Cinemas nearby launching in September 1999 as well as the TOHOs nearby in the early-2000s, this led to a gradual loss of the moviegoers as well as operating losses. For that reason, Sotetsu announced on November 17, 2005 that all of its theaters will close by May 31, 2006 with the exception of the Honda. This did not happen fortunately.
On April 26, 2006, the Sotetsu Building Management that owns the theater announced that Tokyu Recreation would take over operations, and the theater was simply renamed Moovil. The interior would then receive renovation on December 9, 2006, and on March 12, 2011, the theater was renovated again with the introduction of a 3D digital system known as “MasterImage 3D”. However, the building is currently (in 2025) being rebuilt as part of a major renovation project for the west exit of Yokohama Station led by Sotetsu Holdings.
Screens 1 and 2 were located on the 2nd floor while the remaining three other screens were located on the 4th floor. Screen 1 housed 529 seats with Dolby 5.1ch, Screen 2 housed 312 seats with Dolby 6.1ch Surround EX only, Screen 3 housed 506 seats with Dolby 6.1ch Surround EX and DTS, Screen 4 housed 337 seats with Dolby 6.1ch Surround EX and DTS, and Screen 5 housed 269 seats with Dolby 6.1ch Surround EX only. In total, the Moovil housed 1,953 seats. Screens 2, 4, and 5 also have spaces for wheelchairs.

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